Driven by Revenge, Tri-Edge Rewrite Vol 1: Rebirth
by Sky EXE
Summary: Whenever Yoshika finds out about how her father really died, she grabs two forbidden swords and runs away from home, hoping to get stronger so she can have her revenge. What would happen if she encounters the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, the Strike Witches? Rated T for safety. Crossover with .hack G.U. NOW REWRITTEN!
1. Chapter 1

**Driven by Revenge, Tri-Edge Rewrite Vol. 1: Rebirth**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 1: How It All Began**

* * *

"Yoshika! It's time for dinner!" came the call of Sayaka Miyafuji, Yoshika's mother, from the kitchen of their family-owned Miyafuji Clinic in Fuso.

"Coming, mom!" Yoshika, who was at the age of ten, called. She ran to the kitchen where her mother and grandmother, Akimoto Yoshiko, were waiting for her. Tonight's dinner was natto, which was one of Yoshika's favorites.

The family of three sat down at the dining room table. "Thank you for the food!" the three said simultaneously, before Yoshika began eating at a fast pace, while her mother and grandmother ate at a more moderate pace. Interestingly enough, all three finished their dinner at the same time.

That was when somebody knocked on the door, causing Yoshika to jump in fright. She was a timid girl who is scared easily and is also pretty shy. The only ones she acts normally with are her family and her childhood friend, Michiko Yamakawa, who Yoshika likes to call "Micchi."

"I'll get it." Sayaka said, while Akimoto tried to coax Yoshika out from under the table. Walking to the door, Sayaka opened it to reveal an officer in a Fuso uniform.

"Is this the Miyafuji residence?" the officer asked.

"Yes, it is." Sayaka replied.

"I have a delivery for you." The officer said, handing over a letter and an envelope.

Sayaka took them. "Thank you."

The officer nodded, and then left.

Sayaka walked back into the kitchen, to see that Akimoto was successful in coaxing the scared Yoshika out from under the table. "Who was it?" Akimoto asked.

"I'm not sure," Sayaka replied, before looking at the letter. Surprisingly, it was from Ichiro Miyafuji, who was Sayaka's husband and Yoshika's father. "But it seems we've got a letter from Ichiro."

Yoshika perked up at the sound of her father's name. "A letter from dad!"

"Hold on, there. Let me read it first." Sayaka said as she opened the letter and unfolded the paper that was inside. Reading it, she gasped. "It's…it's a death notice!"

Yoshika and Akimoto paled. "No…Daddy can't be dead! He was supposed to come back!" Yoshika wailed.

Akimoto had tears in her eyes. "How…how did this happen…?" she asked.

Yoshika was sobbing helplessly into Akimoto's chest as Sayaka opened the envelope, hoping that the document inside would explain. Looking at the document, Sayaka frowned as nearly all of it was blacked out; the only words that weren't blacked out were "Dr. Ichiro Miyafuji was killed in a laboratory explosion…"

* * *

Two hours later, Sayaka and Akimoto put the now sleeping Yoshika on her bad and tucked her in. "She must have fallen asleep due to the stress." Sayaka mused.

"It's not surprising." Akimoto agreed as the two of them walked out the door.

Several minutes later, Yoshika slowly woke up. Deciding to take a look at the document for herself, she sneaked into the kitchen where the document laid on the counter. Grabbing it, she then sneaked out of the house into the backyard garden, where there was a large fountain. Walking towards it, Yoshika felt around on the fountain until she felt a barely noticeable notch in it. Pushing on the notch, the entire fountain moved to the side, revealing a secret passage underneath.

This passage led to an underground shrine that only the Miyafuji family knew about, and inside this shrine were the forbidden twin swords, "Empty Skies", which were currently folded and were on a display rack. **(A/N: These are the exact same swords that Azure Flame Kite from .hack/G.U. Vol. 3: Redemption uses. [I don't own that either.] Take a look at those swords if you don't know what they look like.)** Walking to a table, Yoshika lit a candle and looked at the document, frowning at how much was blacked out.

'_I can easily fix that.'_ Yoshika thought as her hazel eyes glowed with magical power and her pupils changed shape from a normal round into that of a targeting reticule, indicating that she was using her unique magical ability, "Decryption."

This magical ability allows the user to solve any puzzle in a matter of minutes, and can decode and decrypt any message instantly. This also works on blacked-out documents, like the one Yoshika is using her ability on right now.

Pleased to see that her ability is allowing her to read the whole document, Yoshika began reading it, but quickly felt rage after discovering that someone had purposely set up the lab with a disguised bomb to go off at a certain point in one of Ichiro's experiments. Reading on, she learned that it was Trevor Maloney who ordered the "accident" to occur.

"**What are you doing?"** a strange voice asked.

Yoshika, not expecting for anybody to be here, immediately hid under the table in pure fright, shivering like a leaf.

The ominous voice chuckled. **"Calm yourself, young one. I mean you no harm."**

Yoshika slowly crawled out from under the table. "Where are you?" she asked, looking around the entrance.

"**Turn around."** The voice said.

Yoshika turned, but only saw the folded "Empty Skies." "But the only things I see are the forbidden swords…" Yoshika said, trailing off, before her eyes widened in shock. "You mean that you're…?"

"**It seems you figured it out. Yes, I am the forbidden twin swords, Empty Skies."** The now revealed Empty Skies introduced itself.

Yoshika was shaking like a leaf. "A-A-Are you going to…steal my soul…?" she asked hesitantly.

Empty Skies snorted. **"The only souls I steal are those that are not of the Miyafuji family, because only the Miyafuji's are allowed to wield me. Now, what are you doing down here?"** the twin swords asked.

Yoshika sighed. "Can you look into my mind like the legends say?" she asked.

"**I can, but only with your consent."** Empty Skies answered.

"Then please do so. It would be faster than explaining it to you." Yoshika said, allowing the twin swords to look into her mind.

After a few minutes, Empty Skies receded from her mind. **"That BASTARD!"** the twin swords shouted, taking Yoshika by surprise. **"Nobody kills a Miyafuji and gets away with it! Not if I have anything to say about it!"** The swords then calmed down somewhat. **"So, what are you going to do, Yoshika Miyafuji?"** Empty Skies asked.

Yoshika thought for a minute. "I want revenge." She answered.

Empty Skies mentally grinned. **"Then take me with you. I want to make that bastard suffer for what he did. But first, you need to get stronger. And to do that, we need to leave."**

Yoshika agreed, and grabbed the two custom sheathes for the twin swords and strapped them to her back in an X-shape. She then removed Empty Skies and placed the blades into their sheaths. "So, what now?" Yoshika asked.

"**Leave a letter for your family explaining what you did, but make it short. We then need to get a ship out of Fuso."** The swords said.

Grabbing a piece of paper and a pencil, Yoshika wrote a simple letter to her family. After she was finished, she extinguished the candle by blowing it out and walked out of the shrine, making sure to cover the entrance back up with the fountain. Placing the letter on her bed, she then walked out of the house towards the harbor, where she then sneaked onto a ship destined for Imperial Karlsland, which left shortly after.

The next morning at the Miyafuji residence, Sayaka and Akimoto both went to Yoshika's room to wake her up. Opening the door, the two were shocked to see that nobody was in the room, and the two noticed a letter on the bed. Akimoto took the letter and read it, her eyes widening as she did.

"Take a look at this!" Akimoto said to Sayaka, giving her the note.

Looking at it, Sayaka read it aloud. "'My magical ability is 'Decryption.' I'm going after the bastard who killed daddy. I am not alone, for I have Empty Skies with me.'"

"Empty Skies…" Akimoto mused, before her eyes widened in shock. "To the shrine, quickly!"

Sayaka nodded, and the two of them rushed to the backyard fountain, which showed signs of being opened recently if the marks in the surrounding dirt were of any indication. Opening the entrance to the shrine, the two quickly entered, only to see that the forbidden swords were gone.

* * *

Two months later, the ship that Yoshika was on arrived at Imperial Karlsland, right next to a research lab where a researcher named Ursula Hartmann was developing a new prototype Striker Unit, which she heard about after overhearing a few sailors. Yoshika sneaked off the ship and into the lab once night had fallen, using the cover of darkness to her advantage. Over the two month voyage, Yoshika became a master of stealth and was able to steal food from the ship's mess hall without anyone noticing the missing food. She also learned how to talk with Empty Skies on a mental level, allowing her to have conversations with the twin swords in complete silence. Her personality had also started to change, thanks to Empty Skies giving her mental training.

'_**So, where to now?'**_ the twin swords asked its' wielder.

'_We are going to steal the prototype Striker Unit.'_ Yoshika responded. _'I overheard the one known as Ursula say that it can fly far higher and far faster than any other Striker Unit, but the drawback is that it uses up magical power far too quickly for any of the other Witches to use effectively. The test Witches were only able to use it for 8 minutes at the most. I recall Ursula calling it the Me 163 Komet, a Striker Unit that's powered by a magical rocket engine. I believe that it was this engine that gobbled up the test Witches' magical power too quickly.'_

'_**Magical power that you have in spades.'**_ Empty Skies realized.

Yoshika grinned. _'Exactly.'_

After making sure that the coast was clear, Yoshika sneaked into the hangar that housed the prototype Komet Striker Unit, opening the hangar doors just enough to allow her to make an emergency take-off that she _knew_ she would have to do. Silently running up to the Komet, Yoshika hopped into the Striker Unit and powered it up, releasing it from its' docking clamps.

This triggered the base alarms, causing the Witches that were on standby to rush to the hangar.

Yoshika quickly took off, shocking Ursula who came to check on the Komet. "The Komet has been stolen!" Ursula called in shock, surprising the other Witches. Who would want to steal that magic guzzler? Shaking off that thought, the Witches hopped into their Striker Units and took off in pursuit, hoping that the thief would run out of magical power quickly.

This would not be the case, because Yoshika had enough magical power to use the Komet for fifteen hours nonstop.

After 12 minutes, and with the thief still in the air flying far faster than them, the Witches gave up the chase.

Two hundred miles away from the base, Yoshika found a cave in a mountain range that would be perfect for a makeshift home. Landing in the cave and powering down the Komet, she hopped out of her stolen Striker Unit and lay down on the moist floor, shivering from the cold. She suddenly felt warm.

'_**You are cold. I will give you warmth until you are able to make your own bed.'**_ Empty Skies said.

'_Thank you…my friend.'_ Yoshika replied.

This caught Empty Skies off-guard, _nobody_ has ever thanked him before, let alone call him a friend. The twin swords, for the first time since it could remember, felt good on the inside. _**'What should your new name be? Because I think if the world knew your real name, they would send you back to your family as soon as they can.'**_ The swords asked.

Yoshika thought for a minute. "I think…since I am wielding two triple-bladed swords…how about…'Tri-Edge'?"

"**I like it." **Empty Skies said. **"I have an idea of a symbol for you."**

"What is it?" Yoshika asked. The twin swords sent her the image, and she liked it. "Simple, yet terrifying. I like it." She got up and went to her newly acquired Striker Unit and used her second magical ability, "Color Alteration."

"Color Alteration" is often an underappreciated ability, because not many can see the benefit of changing the colors of an object without using paint. By using this ability, one can change the colors of an object. This is useful if you want to change the colors of an object without using any paint that would eventually flake off. This ability also allows the user to add, change, or remove logos, emblems, and details, and is perfect for pranks. It can also be used on the user to change their coloring to match their surroundings, providing camouflage that is extremely difficult to detect. In addition, the user can also reset the color of any object that this ability was used on to their default coloring.

Using her "Color Alteration" magical ability, Yoshika changed the color scheme to a dark green and black camouflage scheme, and removed the Karlsland emblem while replacing it with a red stylized-"A" like emblem. **(A/N#2: Look up "Tri-Edge Symbol" on Google Images. It's the first result.)**

"I am now…Tri-Edge." Yoshika, or now Tri-Edge, said.

"**We will begin training tomorrow."** Empty Skies informed. **"So get some sleep."**

"Good night." Tri-Edge said, before she fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Driven by Revenge, Tri-Edge Vol. 1: Rebirth**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 2: **The First Encounter, and the Ultimatum

* * *

_Five Years Later…_

It was another morning at the base for the 501st JFW, aka the "Strike Witches", located in Dover, Britannia. All the Witches except for Shirley and Lucchini were gathered in the living room.

"Huh?! We're going to the beach?!" Ursula Hartmann, a Witch/Researcher who recently transferred over to the 501st from the Neue Karlsland Technisch Ministerium, asked excitedly.

"Yes." Mio Sakamoto replied. "Tomorrow morning. We're going to the eastern shore of this island."

"Yes!" Ursula exclaimed. "I've never been to the beach before! Maybe now I can finally learn how-"

Ursula was cut off when Lynette Bishop, or Lynne as she likes to be called, tugged on the sleeve of her Karlsland uniform. "Ursula, it's for training."

"Training?" Ursula asked.

"That is correct!" Mio replied. "We must be able to react to anything that may happen in battle! That includes the loss of flight above the ocean! Which is why training for falling into the sea is necessary!"

"I see…" Ursula's mood deflated as she hung her head.

Mio turned sharply. "What's that, Ursula?! You hate training?!"

"No, it's not like that…" Ursula said in denial, holding her hands up.

Minna giggled at Ursula's reaction. "This is where we'll gather. The time will be 1000 hours. Got that?"

"Understood." Was the response she got.

"All right, then. Ursula, Lynne, can you two pass that information along to Shirley and Lucchini, please? Shirley has been in the hangar since this morning. Lucchini should be asleep somewhere on the base, so see if you can find her."

"Understood." Ursula replied.

"Oh, and Ursula. We won't necessarily be training for the entire day. In other words, you'll have plenty of time to enjoy the beach between exercises!" Minna said with a wink.

"Commander Minna…" Ursula said with a bit of happiness. "All right, we'll tell them. Come on, Lynne!"

"Okay!" Lynne replied to her friend as the two started running for the hangar.

"She's certainly full of energy…" Minna commented as she saw the two run off.

"Shirley's in the hangar again?" Mio asked.

"Yes, since this morning." Minna replied. "Maybe she'll be ready to come out soon?"

Mio sighed. "Things are going to get loud…"

* * *

Lynne and Ursula were talking to each other as they walked to the hangar. "What should I do for a swimsuit?" Lynne asked.

"You don't have one?" Ursula asked back.

"I'm worried because mine is from last year. I don't know if I'll fit in it…" Lynne trailed off.

"You've grown that much taller?" Ursula asked.

"Oh, uhh, I don't mean my height…" Lynne replied, blushing.

It took Ursula a moment to realize what Lynne meant, but then she too started blushing.

That was when an explosion rang out from the hangar, scaring the two Witches.

"Wh-What was that?!" Ursula exclaimed, thinking that something horrible had happened.

"It came from inside the hangar…" Lynne replied.

"Let's go!" And with that, the two ran for the hangar.

* * *

"Shirley!" Ursula yelled as she and Lynne ran into the hangar.

"Yo! What brings you here?" Shirley asked.

Ursula noticed that Shirley was wearing a Striker Unit. "Oh, so you're making adjustments?" she asked.

"Yup!" Shirley answered.

"That explains the noise." Ursula replied.

Shirley then closed the hatches to her Striker Unit's engines and powered it up.

Ursula and Lynne covered their ears from the noise; Ursula may be a researcher and a technician, but she wasn't used to being so close to a Striker Unit whose engines were being tested without ear protection.

"That's enough! We understand now!" Ursula yelled.

Too bad Shirley didn't hear her, as she was making some more adjustments. "Yep, looking good! If I tweak the unbalanced weight allocation between it and the shield a little more…"

"Shirley, Uhh…!" Ursula tried, still covering her ears.

"What are you saying now?" Shirley asked.

"It's really loud! Shirley, it's loud!" Ursula yelled, unaware that Shirley was shutting down her Striker Unit. "PLEASE STOP ALL THE NOISE!"

Shirley was covering her ears from Ursula's yelling. "Not so loud!"

Ursula realized what had happened, and covered her mouth in embarrassment. "Sorry…"

"Be quiet, will ya…?" a sleepy voice said, getting their attention. The three looked up, only to see Lucchini who had been sleeping on one of the support beams, rubbing some sleep from her eyes. "I was having such a nice nap, too! Your yelling woke me up, Ursula!" Lucchini complained, while vaulting down from the support beam she was on.

"Sorry!" Ursula apologized as Lucchini walked up to the group. "Wait a minute, you aren't bothered by the noise?"

Lucchini nodded. "Nope! It always sounds like that!"

"Always?" Ursula asked, then turning to Shirley. "You always make this much noise, Shirley?"

"All I do is modify the Striker's engines." Shirley replied. "Here! I'll show you."

* * *

"What did you modify?" Lynne asked as she, Ursula, Lucchini (who was holding a speedometer) and Shirley (who was wearing her Striker Unit) walked out onto the runway.

"I tweaked the magic engine's energy allocation." Shirley replied.

"Allocation?" Lynne asked. "You mean you changed how much energy is used for offense and defense?"

"That's right!" Shirley replied, putting on her goggles and starting up her Striker Unit.

"What exactly did you enhance, then?!" Lynne shouted over the engine noise.

Shirley looked back at her and Ursula. "Speed, of course!" Shirley answered.

'_So she's the speed demon that my sister told me about.'_ Ursula thought to herself.

At that moment, Lucchini got Shirley's attention holding her arm up. "Shirley!"

"Right!" Shirley nodded, and prepared to take off.

"Go!" Lucchini shouted a few moments later.

At that moment, Shirley shot off down the runway at a speed Lynne hadn't seen before (for a takeoff run, anyway), but Ursula was only mildly surprised; sure it was fast for a _reciprocating_ Striker Unit, but she's seen faster, in the form of the Me 163 Komet rocket Striker.

"Wow! She's speeding up so fast!" Lynne exclaimed.

"She's just getting started!" Lucchini yelled.

By then, Shirley was in the air.

Mio and Minna were watching her progress with their binoculars. "She shot up there fast!" Mio commented.

"1,000 meters high in 50 seconds!" Perrine, who was also holding a speedometer, said. "That's an unprecedented rate, Major!"

"Shirley really tuned it up well!" Minna said as she and Mio looked at each other.

Mio shifted her attention back to the airborne Witch. "Now let's see how it fares."

"Here goes, Merlin! Magic Engine, full output!" Shirley said as she throttled up her Striker Unit to full power.

"She's still speeding up!" Lynne said.

Lucchini had her attention on the speedometer she was holding. "770 kilometers per hour! 780! 785! 790! 795…!"

"Impressive." Ursula commented.

"She broke 800 kph! It's a new record!" Lucchini said excitedly as Shirley shot right by them.

"Her acceleration has stopped." Perrine noted, looking at her speedometer.

"How far did she get?" Mio asked.

"A little over the 800 mark." Perrine said.

"I see. So over 800 is where they round out…" Mio trailed off.

"Do you suppose… this is their limit, after all?" Minna asked.

"The sound barrier is still a long way off…" Mio said.

* * *

That evening, Shirley, Lucchini, Ursula, and Lynne were eating in the hangar when Ursula found a scrapbook. Looking through it, she noted that it was Shirley's.

"What is this, Shirley?" Ursula asked.

Lucchini looked at her. "Shirley used to be a motorcycle rider before she became a pilot!"

"Ever heard of the Bonneville Flats?" Shirley asked. "It's a plain in the middle of Liberion made entirely out of salt that stretches out as far as the eye can see!"

"There's a place like that?" Lynne asked.

"It's a holy place for us speed freaks!" Shirley said, remembering the speed records that she had broken there. "The day I broke the record for the highest speed in a motorcycle is when I heard about the Witches who use magic engines to soar through the air at the world's fastest speeds. I applied to the army and enlisted that very same day. And that's how I wound up here today."

"And that's why you're always pushing the speed limits on your off-days?" Lynne asked, amazed.

"A speed freak, huh?" Ursula asked. "Then you would have _loved_ to fly the Komet."

That got Shirley's attention. "The Komet? What kind of Striker is that?" She then took a sip of water.

"A rocket Striker capable of 1,137 kph in a shallow dive." Ursula answered.

Lynne's and Lucchini's mouths dropped.

Shirley, however, spat out the water that she was drinking. "WHAT?! 1,137 kph?! Where is it? Can I fly it?!" She asked in excitement.

Ursula sighed. "No you can't unfortunately. The Komet, for all of its speed, has a fatal flaw; it sucks up magic like nobody's business. At most, a Witch can only fly it for eight minutes before running out of magic. While we were trying to figure out the problem, an unknown Witch somehow snuck into a high-security base and stole it."

"So why didn't you just wait for her to run out of magic?" Shirley asked, a bit miffed that it was stolen.

"That's just it. After twelve minutes in pursuit, she was STILL flying and showed no signs of slowing down. We were forced to give up the chase." Ursula finished.

Shirley sighed in disappointment. "I see… I would have been much closer to my dream if you still had it…"

"What's your dream?" Ursula asked with interest.

"To be the first person to break the sound barrier, that's what!" Shirley said proudly.

"And how fast does one have to go to reach the speed of sound?" Lynne asked.

"It's around 1,200 kph, I believe." Shirley answered, but then remembered something. "By the way, did you two need something?"

Ursula and Lynne looked at each other, before realizing why they went to the hangar in the first place. "Ahh! We forgot!" The two exclaimed simultaneously.

"We have to gather at 1000 hours tomorrow!" Ursula explained as she, Lynne and Shirley walked out of the hangar.

"I can't wait to see!" Shirley said

"Huh? See what?" Lynne asked.

Shirley glanced back. "See you two in swimsuits!"

"HUH?!" Ursula and Lynne, both blushing, exclaimed at the same time as Shirley ran off, and giggling at the thought. "Shirley!" The two yelled, running after her.

* * *

In the hangar, Lucchini noticed the goggles that Shirley wore. Grinning, she jumped off the Striker Unit docking unit and grabbed the goggles, accidentally knocking over Shirley's Striker Unit in the process. When she realized this, Lucchini panicked, and hurriedly set the Striker Unit back into place. Looking at the damage that she accidentally caused, she tried to fix it back to its previous condition. "Did this part go here? Or here? Was it here?" Lucchini asked to herself as she started working.

Around six hours later, Lucchini was finished with her… repairs. "Now it's as good as new!" she said to herself. "I hope…?" Walking off, Lucchini went to find a place to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, all the Witches were at the beach. Shirley and Lucchini ran off a cliff and dived into the water. Trude was swimming laps, her mind set on continuing her training. Erica, however, was lazily dog-paddling in the water and enjoying herself.

Eila and Sanya were sitting on the sand. "My skin is burning…" Sanya said to herself.

"I'm starving…" Eila complained.

"Wh-Why do I have to wear this?!" Ursula asked, starting to panic. She and Lynne were wearing dummy Striker Units to help with their training.

"Don't make me repeat myself! It's in case you fall into the ocean!" Mio countered.

"All the others have done this training." Minna said to reassure them. "You're the only ones left."

"B-B-But I don't even know how to-" Ursula tried to explain while her panic was rising, but was cut off by Mio.

"Now quit wasting time and get in there already!" Mio yelled at the two.

Fearing Mio's wrath, Lynne and Ursula jumped into the water, Ursula now in a full-blown panic.

Mio pulled out a timer and started it.

Minna was deep in thought; she was trying to figure out what Ursula wanted to learn how to do while being excited about going to the beach for the first time in her life. Then, just a few moments ago, she was in a panic about the training. Then there was that time when she and Lynne accidentally fell into the water after Lynne won her first battle; when Minna and Eila went to pick them up, they saw that Lynne was hugging Ursula in joy, but the Karlsland Witch looked like she was holding onto Lynne as if her life depended on it. But she couldn't figure out why.

"They're not coming back up…" Mio said, two minutes later.

"No…" Minna replied, still in deep thought.

Mio looked at the timer. "I guess this is going to go as smooth as flying…"

Minna was still trying to figure out Ursula's behavior.

"Minna?" Mio asked, noticing that she didn't respond.

"Huh?" Minna asked, realizing that Mio was looking at her. "Oh, well, perhaps this is the most they can do?"

A second later, Lynne resurfaced and was struggling to stay up with the weight of the dummy Strikers trying to pull her down. But Ursula had yet to resurface.

Now Minna was confused; where was Ursula? She started thinking even harder, slowly starting to realize Ursula's problem.

"How long are you going to keep dog-paddling?" Mio yelled. "Come on! Take a page out of Perrine's book!"

Lynne, while still struggling, managed to look at Perrine, who just happened to swim by her.

"Honestly, now!" Perrine scolded. "Don't you know how to swim?" she asked, before swimming off.

Minna's eyes shot wide open in horror at Perrine's question, as the final piece of the puzzle fell into place. "URSULA DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO SWIM!" Minna screamed in panic as she dived down into the water.

Mio's visible eye widened. "Lynne, get over here! Training is cancelled at the moment!" Mio ordered as she too dived into the water, something that the tired girl was happy to do.

"I'm sleepy…" Sanya said tiredly.

That was when Mio and Minna resurfaced, holding onto an unconscious and waterlogged Ursula, getting her attention. Swimming as fast as they could, the two swiftly dragged Ursula's body onto the shore. Laying her body down, Minna immediately started performing CPR to revive the drowned Witch.

The rest of the Witches noticed this and were shocked, but Erica was in a full-blown panic.

"URSULA!" Erica screamed, swimming far faster than anyone had ever thought possible, let alone her. Reaching the shore, she ran up to the three just as Minna managed to revive Ursula, who was hacking up seawater.

"Who made her go into the water?!" Erica shouted, getting angrier at the second.

"I didn't know she couldn't-" Mio tried to say, but was cut off by Erica in a rather painful way.

"STRUM!" Erica shouted as she held up the wind spell in her right hand and slammed it into Mio's gut, sending her skidding back a few meters.

By then, all the Witches were out of the water and were standing near them. Erica's sudden attack shocked the Witches (minus Ursula, who was still hacking up seawater), but Perrine went livid.

"How dare you hurt the Major, you bi-" Perrine yelled, but was silenced when two shots rang out, a thin line of blood running down from each of her cheeks.

The Witches all looked at Erica, who had drawn two pistols out of nowhere and had them both aimed at Perrine's head, with both of the barrels smoking slightly. "Oops. I _missed_. One wrong move and I'll be sure to send two 9mm slugs straight through your head." Erica said in a murderous tone.

This was a side to Erica that nobody, save Ursula, has ever seen before. And they were _scared_.

Erica then slid the two pistols into two slits that were on the sides of her swimsuit and into two holsters that she had sewn into the inside of it, again shocking the Witches; Erica always wore her swimsuit wherever she went, and this meant that she was _always_ armed. But how was she so accurate?

"Sister, are you all right?" Erica asked her sister worriedly, causing everyone to blink at the sudden change of character.

"Y-Yeah, I think so." Ursula replied, coughing up the last of the seawater that was in her body. "I… I don't think I want to learn how to swim anymore…"

"You have to, sister." Erica replied, before helping her up. "Come on; I'll teach you how." She then turned to glare at Mio. "This better not happen again." Erica warned, before leading her sister to a shallow area to start teaching her.

* * *

Several hours later, Erica had managed to teach her sister how to swim to a sufficient level (Ursula was always a quick learner) with some help from Mio, something that Erica was reluctant with, but decided to accept it once Mio explained herself.

Ursula was now taking a break by lying down in the sand, and Erica, after determining that no other incident will happen, went back into the water to play a bit more, although she stayed close to her sister's location just in case.

Shirley walked up to her. "Hey, Ursula. What happened with Erica a little bit ago?"

Ursula sighed. "It's because I'm the only living family she has left."

This caused Shirley to blink in surprise. "What happened to your mom and dad?" she asked as she laid down next to Ursula.

This was a touchy subject for both Hartmann's, but she might as well tell her. "We were raised in a small town where crime was commonplace, so when we were we were ten, our mom and dad took us to a gun range so that we can learn how to use a pistol to defend ourselves. While we were learning how to use a gun… a criminal came into the range and started gunning down everyone that was there. When… when our parents were killed, Erica lost it; she grabbed two pistols and unloaded every single shot into the criminal's body, even when he was dead. Since then, she's become very protective of me."

Shirley was shocked at first, but then remembered something. "If Erica's so protective of you, then why does she act so cheerful?"

Ursula didn't miss a beat. "That cheerful act is just that; an act. She uses that act to fool those who are potential threats to either herself or me. If she determines that a person is a threat, she'll kill that person when she gets the chance. Believe it or not, that act had actually saved us a few times by fooling several criminals into thinking that me and her were easy targets. Too bad for them; they never lived to regret it."

Shirley was once again shocked, but it did explain Erica's actions earlier; she was just trying to protect the only family she had left. It also explained why she acted so cheerful all the time. "I-I see…" she trailed off as she looked up and saw a shape flying in front of the sun, something that Ursula also noticed. Both of them looked closer at the shape, and were able to identify it.

"The enemy!" The two said simultaneously as they ran off to the hangar.

Erica noticed them run off, and immediately got out of the water and ran after them.

By then the Neuroi alarm went off.

Mio was on a phone built into the rocks. "One enemy aircraft! Appears to have snuck in under our radar!" Mio said to Minna after hearing the report.

Minna grunted. "Urgh! They're two days earlier than expected again!"

"Who's going?" Mio asked.

"Shirley and the others have already sprung into action." Minna answered.

Shirley, Ursula, and Erica climbed over the wall separating them from the base; it would take too long to run around it. Shirley was running faster than they were, and was already getting close to the hangar.

"She even runs fast!" Ursula exclaimed.

"We might as well do the same, then!" Erica replied.

The two sisters nodded at each other, before they started pumping magic into their legs, making them run faster.

"Too bad the others don't know this trick; if they did, they would've been here already." Ursula said as she and Erica ran into the hangar.

Shirley was already in her Striker Unit and powering it up. "This is Yeager! Taking off!" she grabbed her gun from the docking unit and took off right as Erica and Ursula hopped into their Striker Units.

* * *

In the air, Shirley received a transmission from Minna. _"Shirley, do you read me?!"_

"Commander!" Shirley replied.

"_There's one enemy aircraft, an ultra-fast model. It's already made it inland."_ Minna explained.

"What's its course?" Shirley asked as she flew in pursuit, with Erica and Ursula not far behind her.

At the base, Mio was looking at a map, trying to determine the Neuroi's destination.

"It's heading west-northwest of here." Minna told Mio, who drew out the path on the map. "Its target… if it continues this course… London!" Minna said.

Mio grabbed the mic on the communication set. "It's London! Get ahead of it immediately!" Mio ordered. "Shirley! Show it your speed!"

Shirley put on her goggles as she heard Mio's orders. "Roger that!" she responded, before putting on the speed.

Erica and Ursula noticed this, and both turned off their comms. "Let's do the same!" Erica told her sister, who nodded. Both of them then started accelerating as well before turning their comms back on.

It's a good thing they did, because a few minutes later, they heard Mio shouting. _"Lieutenant Shirley, return to base at once! Your Striker Unit is damaged, return at once!"_

"We'll catch her!" Erica said as she and Ursula released more of their power, speeding themselves up even further.

* * *

With Shirley, she noticed something strange. _'What's going on? The acceleration isn't stopping at all! Is the engine performing especially well today?! It… It feels like… It feels like it did then!'_ she thought as she remembered the day she broke the speed record on a motorcycle. "Go!" Shirley exclaimed as she used her magical ability to enhance her speed even further. Creating a shield in front of her, Shirley managed to break the sound barrier.

Behind her, both Erica and Ursula noticed the incoming sonic boom, and threw up their shields to avoid being blasted back. The two then noticed that Shirley was getting farther away from them.

'_Please… lend us some of your power…'_ Ursula spoke to a being that rested inside of her.

"_**At your need."**_ An ominous, male voice replied from within her mind, giving her some of its power.

A golden aura started emanating from Ursula, who grabbed her sister's hand. Upon contact, the aura extended to envelop Erica as well.

The two nodded to each other, and then sped up to a speed far faster than they would be able to fly at ordinarily. In a matter of moments, they too broke the sound barrier.

When Shirley opened her eyes, she gasped as she saw how fast she was flying. "D-Did I just pass Mach speed?! This is the realm of supersonic speed?! Incredible! This is incredible! I did it! I really did it!"

"_Do you read me, Lieutenant?! Respond!"_ Mio's frantic voice came in over the radio.

"I did it, Major! I broke the sound barrier!" Shirley responded excitedly.

"_Stop! You're going to crash into the enemy!"_ Mio's voice yelled back.

"Huh?" Shirley asked, before looking ahead. "Oh no…" Shirley paled when she saw that she was approaching the Neuroi too fast for her to turn away in time. She swung her Strikers to face forwards and threw up a shield, desperately trying to slow down as she plowed through the Neuroi and its Core, destroying it.

Erica and Ursula, still holding onto each other and emanating a golden aura, arrived on the scene, just in time to witness Shirley destroy the Neuroi. Seeing some movement above them, the two saw Shirley, who was currently unconscious, slowly rising up into the air, her Strikers sparking slightly.

Ursula's eyes widened. "Those Strikers have been overloaded!" She exclaimed.

"I'll take care of the Strikers! You grab Shirley!" Erica ordered as the two let go of each other, the golden aura dissipating from the two Witches.

Ursula managed to grab Shirley right as she started to fall, while Erica removed Shirley's Strikers, which were starting to spark dangerously, and threw them as far away as she could.

It was a good thing she did, because a few moments later, the Strikers exploded.

"Geez! Shirley, you're heavy!" Ursula complained as she held onto her. "Can't you lose some weight?"

"Starting in the chest area, perhaps?" Erica asked jokingly.

The two sisters blinked at each other, before they started laughing.

* * *

Thirty-thousand feet up above them, a certain avenger had watched the engagement.

"**So they are your next targets?"** Empty Skies asked his wielder.

Tri-Edge looked at the three Witches below her with an emotionless gaze. "Yes… if what I heard is correct, then the Strike Witches are the strongest of the Joint Fighter Wings." She then took out a piece of paper and, using her magic, formed a message on it. Folding it, she then used her magic to write "To the Commander of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, for all to hear" on the front, and then applied tape to the backside of the note.

Once the message was ready, Tri-Edge dived down onto the three Witches below her at just below the speed of sound.

* * *

Erica and Ursula, who was still carrying an unconscious Shirley, had just started flying back to base when Erica suddenly stopped, getting her sister's attention.

"What's wrong, Erica?" Ursula asked worriedly.

Erica was silent for a moment, before her eyes widened. "Incoming!" she yelled, right as a figure sped by them, sticking something onto Erica's shoulder before continuing to dive away from them while accelerating and breaking the sound barrier.

Ursula's eyes were wide in pure shock. When the figure flew in front of her to slap what looked like a piece of paper onto Erica's shoulder, she was only able to see the ends of what looked like a Striker Unit. It was only for an instant, but there was no mistaking it.

At the ends of each leg mount, was a rocket nozzle spewing out magic, instead of the normal magical engines that are found on most Striker Units.

"The Komet…" Ursula trailed off in shock.

"Wait a minute! THAT was the Witch who stole the Komet prototype?!" Erica asked, bewildered as she grabbed the folded note from her shoulder.

Ursula looked at the note that her sister was holding, noticing who it was addressed to. "Let's head back."

Erica nodded, and the two flew back to base with Ursula holding onto Shirley and Erica holding the note.

* * *

Several hours later, all the Witches were gathered in the briefing room.

Minna held out the letter that the mystery Witch had slapped onto Erica's shoulder several hours ago. "I have a feeling that this is something we all need to know, so I'll be reading it out loud." Opening the letter, Minna began reading it aloud. "'I want all of your Witches to be at their prime in three days. The time will be 1930 hours and the place will be the airspace above your base. Feel free to call back-up from the 31st Joint Fighter Squadron, who I know are all on a short leave in a nearby town. Trust me; you'll need it against me. Signed…'" Minna took one look at the symbol that was where the signature usually was, and started shaking. Her eyes showing an emotion that none of them have ever expected from her.

Fear. And pure _TERROR._

"M-Mio," Minna stuttered, shocking all that were present. Minna _never_ stuttered, not even once. "L-Look…" she said, pointing at the symbol.

Mio took one look at the symbol. Her eyes widen in surprise and her fellow Witches saw her slightly shivering, like Minna, in fear.

Now all that were present in the room were scared; to have both Minna and Mio act without confidence and in fear, must mean that something very dangerous was approaching.

They had no idea how correct they were.


	3. Chapter 3

**Driven by Revenge, Tri-Edge Vol. 1: Rebirth**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 3: The Time Draws Near; Prelude to Battle**

* * *

"Shirley, take the truck to the nearby town and gather the Storm Witches." Mio ordered, her voice full of fear as she continued to look at the note. "I won't explain until they are here. Just tell them that a major threat is coming, and if that doesn't work, tell them that they have a chance to make history. Tell them to bring all their equipment as well."

"Y-Yes, ma'am." Shirley said, leaving the room to do as she was told.

After Shirley left, Mio took out a photo that had the Miyafuji family on it, and the letter that Yoshika left with her family. "Sayaka Miyafuji, Akimoto Yoshiko, with this turn of events, I may not live to see through with the promise I gave you." Mio said quietly to herself.

* * *

In a nearby town, the 31st Joint Fighter Squadron, also known as the "Storm Witches," were all at a café relaxing.

"Ah, that hit the spot." Said the voice of Katou Keiko, the Storm Witches' aerial command and photo reconnaissance Witch, rubbing her full stomach.

Raisa Pöttgen, who is Marseille's partner and has an artistic talent, agreed while sipping down some soda.

Inagaki Mami, another Witch of the 31st JFS, agreed as well.

Kitano Furuko, the only Witch in the 31st JFS to use a tank-type land-based Striker Unit, agreed as well after finishing off her fries.

"Remember, we will be here for five more days until we need to head back to Africa." Hanna-Justina Wallia Rosalind Sieglinde Marseille **(A/N: I kid you not; that's her full name.)**, the ultra-ace of the Storm Witches and also known as the "Star of Africa", reminded them. That was when she saw a speeding truck roar down the street and screech to a halt next to them. The driver got out, revealing it to be Shirley. "I should've known that it was you who was driving that truck, you speed demon." Marseille said.

"Nice to see you, too." Shirley shot back. "What are you doing here?"

"We're on a short leave because the higher up's believe we've all went insane when we told them that the Witch known as Tri-Edge defeated us." Kitano replied.

"You mean the rumored Witch that is going after other Witches?" Shirley asked.

"She is NOT a rumor!" Raisa yelled. "We saw her with our own eyes!"

Shirley raised her hands in surrender. "Hey, I never said I didn't believe you. To be honest, even though I've never seen Tri-Edge, I believe the rumors to be true. Anyways, Mio told me to bring you back to our base. She didn't explain why, though."

Marseille raised an eyebrow. "And _why_ should we listen to her?" she asked.

Shirley shrugged. "Not sure, but she did say something about making history. If you're not interested, I'll go back and tell her." Shirley said, and was about to get back into her truck when Marseille grabbed her shoulder.

"Make history, you say?" Marseille asked, grinning. "You've got my attention."

Shirley grinned. "Great! She also told me to tell you to bring all of your equipment as well, which includes your Striker Units and all your guns and ammo as well, which is what the truck is for, I believe."

Marseille turned to the rest of the 31st JFS. "Girls, we have an attempt to make history. You up for it?" she asked them.

They nodded. "I've recently upgraded my firepower into that of a true Tank Witch." Kitano said.

"So we are in agreement." Marseille said. "All right, everyone. Grab your gear and load it onto the truck. We're going to visit the Strike Witches."

* * *

One hour later, Shirley returned with the Storm Witches in tow. She then brought them to the briefing room where the rest of the 501st were waiting for them. "Glad you could make it." Mio said, having gotten somewhat calmer of knowing about their next enemy. Now she was anticipating the challenge, although Minna was still somewhat scared.

"So what's this I hear about making history?" Marseille asked.

"Take a look at this letter that our opponent gave to us." Mio said, giving Marseille the letter.

Reading the letter, Marseille paled, and started shaking in fear.

"Marseille, what's wrong?" Katou asked.

"I-I-It's…_'Her.'_" Marseille stuttered.

Raisa paled; she knew what, or rather who, Marseille was talking about. "N-No…not again…not again!" She yelled. "She nearly killed us last time!"

By this time, all the Storm Witches were aware of whom the new threat was and the rest of them paled.

"Hey, you never did tell us who were up against." Lucchini complained to Mio.

"One word, biggest threat to the Witches in history. The name of the threat? Tri-Edge." Mio answered.

This time, all the Strike Witches paled; they all knew who Tri-Edge was.

Tri-Edge was the infamous Witch that was reported to be seen all over the European front against the Neuroi. She has taken down an armada consisting of around 300 Neuroi by herself and emerged victorious thirty minutes later (this means that Tri-Edge destroyed ten Neuroi every minute, meaning one Neuroi every six seconds). But what really put the spark of fear into Tri-Edge's name is that she _also_ goes after every Joint Fighter Wing that she comes across, putting several Witches from each JFW into a coma that none of them have ever woken up from (Tri-Edge has stolen the souls of those that were put into a coma. The extraction of the soul only puts the body into a coma, it doesn't kill them. It also leaves her signature mark on them as well. The only ones who know this are Tri-Edge herself and her twin swords, Empty Skies).

"Y-Y-Y-Y-You mean to tell me…that the one who stole the Komet…was Tri-Edge?!" Ursula asked, shocking all those that were present.

"WHAT?!" Trude yelled. "You mean Tri-Edge is in possession of the stolen prototype rocket Striker?!"

Marseille gasped. "_That_ explains how she was able to fly so fast and take down all the other Joint Fighter Wings so quickly!" she exclaimed.

* * *

Three days later, all the Witches at the base were anxiously waiting the appointed time for the battle to begin. Also, Kitano was given a crash-course on flying an aerial Striker Unit to increase her chances of surviving.

"I can't believe that in a few short hours we'll be facing Tri-Edge herself." Shirley said. "In fact, I'm looking forward to it."

"How can you be looking forward to it?!" Ursula asked in shock.

Shirley grinned. "I always wanted to have an actual high-speed battle, and now's the perfect opportunity!"

Ursula face-faulted at the answer she was given. _'I should've known. She's a speed demon to the end.'_

Mio looked at the clock. "Activate the emergency alarm. It's nearly time."

Marseille nodded, and pulled the lever that activated the emergency alarm, the signal that all the Witches were waiting for.

All the Witches gathered in the briefing room. "All right. Listen up!" Marseille called. "In just a few minutes, we will be going up against the biggest threat that we've ever faced. Now listen; just because Tri-Edge is a Witch, doesn't mean you should hold back, because doing so will just get you killed. From what little knowledge we have due to rumors, she has enough magic to fly the Komet, a Striker Unit that's known to completely drain a Witch's magic supply in only 8 minutes, for more than ten hours at the least." This shocked all the Witches present; they knew about the prototype rocket Striker and its flaw from Ursula explaining it to them, and to hear that a Witch possessed that high amount of magic was unheard of. "Therefore, we will need to use every advantage that we can get. The Komet can fly far faster and far higher than any other Striker Unit to date. It's also quite maneuverable as well, but it's not as maneuverable as our Strikers at low speeds down on the deck **(A/N: That's fighter pilot talk for near the ground, basically at treetop level.)**, so we'll use that to our advantage. Our objective will be to incapacitate Tri-Edge, since we've got some questions for her. She must have a reason to go after the Witches like she has. You all understand?"

All the other Witches nodded.

Minna then explained her strategy to take down the rouge Witch. She then looked at the clock. The time was 1920 hours. "It's time. All Witches, to your Striker Units at once!" Minna ordered.

* * *

80 miles away, in a cave in a mountain range, Tri-Edge awaited the time for her battle with her newest opponents.

"The time draws near…" Tri-Edge mumbled to herself.

"**It does…are you ready?"** Empty Skies asked.

"Yes, I am ready. If I can defeat the two best Witch squadrons in the world combined, then I will have proven that I am the strongest, and will finally be ready to hunt down Trevor Maloney." Tri-Edge replied. She then looked at the position of the Sun, and estimated the time to be 1920 hours. "It's time." She said, placing Empty Skies in their sheaths on her waist **(A/N: The sheaths were moved to the waist to allow for on-the-moment wielding. She draws them like Haseo, from the .Hack G.U. series, does when he draws a twin blade weapon.)**, putting on her magic armor (which included a mask), and hopped into her Komet Striker Unit, powering it up. For the last time, the sounds of magical rocket engines echoed throughout the cave as Tri-Edge flew out of the cave and towards the Strike Witches' Dover base, on a rendezvous with destiny.

Thirty minutes later, Tri-Edge spotted the Strike Witches base at Dover, and dived in on them from the stratosphere.

* * *

All the Witches at the base were in the air and on combat alert when Sanya detected someone diving in onto their position.

"Incoming from above..." Sanya warned as her Magic Antenna started changing color rapidly, noticing something coming at them at high speed.

All the Witches looked up to see an armored figure diving onto them.

Pulling out of her steep dive, the target positioned herself a hundred meters away from the rest of the Witches, the figure's back turned to them. For some reason, she showed no notion of moving so Mio pulled out the photo one last time before the battle begins, giving a silent prayer that she'll live through the battle so she can keep her promise. She then put the photo back into her pocket.

That was when Tri-Edge's armored form turned to faced them. Eyes glaring with all the hostility they could give, causing each and every single Witch to freeze in fear mid-flight.


	4. Chapter 4

**Driven by Revenge, Tri-Edge Vol. 1: Rebirth**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. All credit for the fight scene of this chapter goes to P4Nd0RaS so be sure to thank him, too!**

**Chapter 4: The Fated Battle: Witches VS. Tri-Edge, and some Questions Answered**

* * *

_Last Time…_

_"Incoming from above..." Sanya warned as her Magic Antenna started changing color rapidly noticing something coming at them at high speed._

_All the Witches looked up to the sky high to see a black figure diving onto them._

_Pulling out of her steep dive, the target positioned herself a hundred meters away from the rest of the Witches, the figure's back turned to them. For some reason, she showed no notion of moving so Mio pulled out the photo one last time before the battle begins, giving a silent prayer that she'll live through the battle so she can keep her promise. She then put the photo back into her pocket._

_That was when Tri-Edge's armored form turned to faced them. Eyes glaring with all the hostility they could give, causing each and every Witch to freeze in fear mid-flight._

_Now…_

"Strike Witches! Engage!" Minna was the first to ignore her fear and made an order as the Witches moved on reflex. The shrouded figure, making her move at the same time the squadron moved, flew head on towards the group.

"Break formation!" Came the second order. The Witches split into two directions but Tri-Edge ignored it as she chased off a single target.

It doesn't matter if she flew left or right, the main purpose was to be flanked. Surrounded by Witches on all side should make her stop in her tracks, giving some moments to banter, that was the expectations.

To the surprise of all Witches present, Tri-Edge burst out of the blockade with ease, as if there was no enclosure in the first place. Her speed and the shockwaves caused by it were enough to send a regular Witch off-balance. If the Witches present weren't the best of the best, they wouldn't have be able to calm themselves and regain flight as they tumbled down to the sea below.

_'Like sticks on a windy day.'_ Tri-Edge mused as she effortlessly burst out of her enclosure but she never let her guard down for her second thoughts was, _'If they activated barriers it's going to be a different matter.'_

"Is this meager strategy all you've got?" She taunted without restraint hopeful that the hot-blooded of the lot will straight out charge and under the pressure, outdo herself and show her an interesting sight. "The Strike Witches are the best, right?"

True enough, one that has been restraining herself let it loose. Charlotte Yeager boosted her Strikers to their maximum speed, moving out of formation straight at Tri-Edge. Smirking, the girl in question acknowledged the battle of speed with excitement. After all, _'What could a meager regular Striker do against a Rocket Striker?'_

They sped up faster than any regular Witch could fly, so much that few can follow up. Lucchini strained and Erica used her wind ability to boost herself but still the two could barely follow the two boosting Witches that are racing. Yeager shot bullets at the girl, only to be evaded easily. Tri-Edge retaliated by performing a quick slash, suddenly appearing right beside her. How she performed that instant parallel glide, nobody could see.

Tri-Edge suddenly stopped short causing the still at high speed Yeager to fly off a hundred meters per second apart from the girl. Soon those chasing found the reason. Those who couldn't chase mainly Lynette, Ursula and Minna who stayed behind to watch over the situation, tried to do what they can without moving. Ursula calculated the trajectory, Lynette fires her bullet.

The anti-materiel bullet flew at high speed straight towards where Tri-Edge should have flown just like Ursula's calculation said she would, but the immediate stopping caused the mark to be off by a few meters. Not a problem that is because using Lynette's Ballistic Stabilization, the anti-materiel bullet turned.

Surprised by the sudden changed in direction, Tri-Edge was hit hard and without a shield. The chasing Witches, who now stopped, and Lynette herself who fired watched in horror in fear that they might have killed off their capture target, only to find the girl practically unharmed.

Tri-Edge shot a glare of pure hatred towards the sniper before shooting off towards her and the two near her. Minna knew that even if they split, Tri-Edge will target Lynette for she is the one that took the shot and will be the easiest to knock out if not kill. The other Witches instinctively went on the flight path of Tri-Edge only to be outmaneuvered, their defensive shots missing their mark every time.

"Hii!" The Britannian girl shrieked before raging winds knocked the attacking Witch upwards.

Erica had used her wind magic since her logic deduced that after Lynette, Ursula will be the next target. Her protective instincts allowed her to perform better for a moment, enough to send the attacking Witch flying. Tri-Edge wasn't knocked out though. She shook her head as if to clear the surprise and maybe confusion before raising her hand towards the sky.

_'You want to play with the wind, eh? Eat this... Raging Winds.' _Tri-Edge thought intensely, finding no need to invoke those words or making it known to her enemies.

The effects was instant as the winds raged, turned, churned and flew freely in all directions. Something that causes all the Witches to get thrown up and about as if in a storm. However, unlike a tornado which is a circular motion, these winds are erratic. Soon enough the winds dissipated, but the Witches could barely hold their lunch and stabilize themselves to receive Tri-Edge's next attack.

Tri-Edge did not make a move though. An act that is called mockery. She is showing that she made no effort to throw the Witches into disarray and is making it worse by looking at her watch, if she has one because nobody can see the watch, another gesture of mockery.

Perrine was the one who couldn't take it, her anger getting the better of her. Her logic was, _'If she is fast then make her unable to run. I just have to perform a large attack.' _A huge electric discharge will knock the damned Witch out. "Tonnerre!" Lightning surged as it traveled the air outwards in a huge area.

Tri-Edge made no movements, not running away much less making a barrier. She just folded and sheathed one of her blades and stretched her open hand towards the lightning. To the Gallian Witch's surprise, the lightning was being absorbed, the body of Tri-Edge emanating a golden glow, one of lightning. Her element.

_'Electricity is thrilling isn't it? It's quite shocking.' _Tri-Edge asked to herself as she sent a bolt of thunder towards the Witch that spewed it out. Evading the light speed attack by a hair's breath, the sky rumbled from the discharge as the thunderbolt dissipated into a faraway cloud.

While Perrine was frozen in the middle of the sky in shock, the other Witches continued their assault anew. Tri-Edge, who wasn't able to notice the ambush behind her, reacted badly and was sent flying by Trude's stock slam. It wasn't without a payment though, for Tri-Edge managed to slash one of the Karlsland Witch's guns to shreds.

Mio was waiting for the chance as she swung her sword towards Tri-Edge's armor, hoping to cut it off by the shoulders so that Lynette could perform Plan B, which was to tranquilize the target and restrain her while she is unconscious. Sadly, Tri-Edge managed to evade the swing, the blade barely cutting the girl's mask. Mio performed a reverse strike, a blunt attack by the back of the blade may knock the Witch out, but Tri-Edge slowed down making the strike intended to the neck strike upon her mask.

The mask cracked under the strain but the Witch herself doesn't show any damage nor concussion present. Rather, she is more irritated now; the increase in magical power indicated that the Witch in front of them may have shut off her limiter if not a few limiters. They have no absolute information about the Witch so they could never know.

Swords are really a disadvantageous weapon in a battle, especially if there are a lot of experienced shooters within it. Tri-Edge wasn't able to slash even a single Witch, not even one of the Storm Witches that she had defeated before. Mio's strike succeeded because someone sent the target towards her in an open state allowing easy and comfortable attacks toward any target.

"Sanya! I have an idea!" Lynette called upon the Night Witch that have been confirming Tri-Edge's position when she flew into clouds, the silent Witch raising her eye at the sudden exclamation the shy Witch performed and nodded at the burning passion in the sniper's eyes.

The two looked at Minna, their commander for confirmation and noticing the gaze the two wore she thought that it might not be too bad to bet upon a spontaneous plan. "Tell me what I should do..." Sanya asked readying her rocket launcher.

Tri-Edge's breathing has become rougher, she has been flying for a long time. Rather, this is the longest time she has flown under her current circumstances. The Witches that strained themselves to keep up with Tri-Edge weren't in any better condition though; each and every one of them were gasping, even if they did have the occasional rest. _'Monster!'_ was the common thought each of the Witches have against Tri-Edge.

Then a barrage of missiles flew towards her. Of course, each and every one was evaded swiftly but they turned, just like the anti-materiel bullet, the first and foremost missile blowing up right over her shoulders sending her tumbling forward, open to more missile attacks. Lynette is ready to fire the syringe, but the number of missiles and the amount of smoke may lower the precision and chance of hitting the target perfectly, so she will wait for the perfect moment.

Tri-Edge noticed that she had something up her sleeve, but knowing that she herself will not show a single opening to that attack chose to ignore it for now. The bigger problem is the strategist redhead and the genius that have been reading her movements for a short while till now. Which one should she attack first?

Lucchini was thrown by Shirley at high speed hoping that their combined speed and throw power may allow her to slam her shields towards Tri-Edge. Eila evaded another strike from Tri-Edge's twin swords but succeeded in stopping the Witch from attacking Sanya. At that time, Lucchini, shields deployed flying at high speed, struck Tri-Edge. But even at that speed, the shields merely scratched the side of her armor.

Minna noticed that there are no more defenders in the direction they are in except for Shirley. Knowing her, at high speed, they will merely cross each other. The three split apart just by noticing that they will be open to attacks. Lynette also moved because she is convinced that her shot will not hit.

Just like they have predicted, Tri-Edge crossed Shirley's flight path nimbly and was moving at high speed, towards Ursula. The blonde-haired girl, surprised, shrieked a bit before choosing to keep flying rather than trying to shoot. The second she opens fire she will be open to a melee attack especially if Tri-Edge is only a few hundred meters behind her.

Evading all other bullets fired from the Storm Witches, Tri-Edge slowly but surely closed the distance between her and her target. None of the others were able to help but they kept trying. When the blade was about to strike upon the cornered Witch's body, someone slammed Tri-Edge with a huge blast of air.

"Nee-san!" Ursula exclaimed finding her twin sister in a defensive position right in front of her. Firing bullets at the evading Tri-Edge, she flew faster than before. A short gaze towards Minna showed that she had allowed the removal of limiters. Shirley is flying faster and Barkhorn's bullets are getting stronger. Ursula, sadly, has no limiters she wanted to release. Keyword: Wanted.

"Heh." Even in the face of the toppled balance, Tri-Edge chuckled as if she expected them to release their magical limiters. The winds churned, their temperature rising. There is no Witch in the area that can control fire. Missiles that were originally chasing Tri-Edge stopped in their tracks a meter or two from her and exploded but everyone can see, the missile tubes are molten red before they exploded in shrapnel and melted metal.

Bullets were fired at the overpowered Witch but she did not evade. The bullets, reinforced with magic, could not pierce the energy barrier she created from superheating the air. "A Plasma Barrier." Ursula confirmed with awe at the perfect molecular construction of the fourth state of matter. The sky darkened not so long after, thunder rumbling. It seems that the forces of nature were on their side for the rain cooled down the ambient energy and dissipated the barrier like it was clay.

The Witches take their chances as Tri-Edge blankly watched the rain fall onto her and around her. A shame it is for thunder struck around Tri-Edge covering her from any trials of close range attack. When the lightning was gone so was Tri-Edge. "Kyaaaa!" A scream from one of the Storm Witches, Kitano to be exact, alarmed the rest that she was ambushed, taking a clear hit from both of the twin blades, leaving the mark of Tri-Edge on her body. It's as if Tri-Edge herself moved as fast as light and traversed the distance within a second.

With some difficulty, the now comatose Witch was helped by one of her comrades as the rest continued the battle. A hopeless one at that.

That is, until a sudden jolt in Tri-Edge's body allowed Gertrud to bat her away with her full strength and was fired upon by numerous machine guns. Losing the close range advantage and unable to do anything in range Tri-Edge tried to swoop down onto the resting Witches below, but the barrage of bullets wouldn't allow her to. One after another clear hits struck upon the body of the Witch but she ignored it. How, nobody knows, but thinking of how much she was hit, she sure does take a lot.

As time continues, the frequency of these sudden surprises increase. Mio was more concerned to how to save the girl before she does any more damage to herself than capturing her alive by now. Her Katana strikes meeting air, she kept ordering changes in offensive and defensive parties regularly maintaining Minna's paced strategy at the same time.

Tri-Edge's complexion is waning. Her sight was getting blurry. She thought about letting loose but couldn't think clearly enough to make the choice until, "Tonnerre!" an electric attack from the Gallian Witch woke her up from her half-awake state. If she is to unleash her power, she will have to stay still for a moment. The risks are high considering the Major is admirable in her swordsmanship.

Choosing to risk it, Mio retracted her blade lest it cut off the head of the target she intended to save. Unable to stop her swing fully she could only change its direction and it struck upon the face mask of Tri-Edge once more, this time breaking it completely. Showing the identity of Tri-Edge for the Major to see and to her surprise, she widened her eyes.

"Yoshika..." She muttered the name of Professor Miyafuji's daughter. The daughter that ran away from her home to seek revenge... "You are... Tri-Edge?"

For some reason Tri-Edge do not wish to answer, but she did not attack either. The other Witches stopped flying watching the surprise in their colleague's face and their commander's confusion.

"How long does it take to make the connection?" Tri-Edge replied cynically. "Sakamoto Mio, father may have spoken a lot about you... but that soul of yours. I will consume it to become stronger." The cold glare in her eyes are not playful in any way. She is determined to kill and this is a mere warning to an acquaintance of her father. A form of action done out of mere respect.

"Why do you do this?" Mio herself continued to question the girl's motives. "What do you seek from devouring the souls of many?"

"I seek revenge. Judgment. Justice..." Each word was filled with malice, so much that it sent shivers down the spine of those listening anew. But only Mio, who is close enough can her last words, which were a whisper. "Redemption..." Such sorrow within a little girl, this just wouldn't do. For the Major, this is the utmost failure to her promise, she was so heartbroken that she let her sword down.

"I will not stop twice, take up your sword." Tri-Edge ordered for her to continue and fight. Seeing as Mio had other thoughts in her mind she did not comply. Tri-Edge frowned at the refusal to fight that she threatened, "If you stop now I'll raze the nearest military base." Nobody knows if the threat is a mere bluff or she will really perform such horrendous actions to see her aspires come true but still Mio refused causing the Strike Witches to lower their guns.

_'This will not do. This will not do at all!'_ Tri-Edge thought, starting to panic. Despite her twin swords, Empty Skies, trying to calm her down she could only explode in rage. Letting her twin swords hover in midair she grabbed onto the Major's sailor collar, her actions are getting more pitiable by the second.

"Fight me! Show me the strength of the strongest Witch Squadron!" She screamed with outrage, so pathetic was the display that even the Storm Witches lowered their weapons at the rogue Witch. "Tch." Pissed that her targets refused to fight she took one of her swords and swung it down. The Major did not even try to evade as the sword stopped barely touching her face. "What the hell is wrong with you...?" Tri-Edge asked.

Mio opened her mouth to respond, but Tri-Edge cut her off. "Do not need to make the effort." Tri-Edge flew up above the Witches cutting off what message Mio is trying to convene. "If you do not want to fight me then I'll reap your souls all the same... no... Much better, I'll give you all an eternal death!"

At that point, seven golden spikes appeared in a semicircle behind her back, signaling the start of her ultimate attack as she folded and sheathed her two swords. Then, seven more spikes appeared, completing the circle. The fourteen golden spokes then spread out to make the outline of a large circle. Then, to the Witches' shock and fear, a large purple eye opened up from within the circle behind the rouge Witch as a ball of super-condensed magic with a dark green center and a purple outer shell started to charge up.

Mio looked at the spell in horror; she knew what that spell was, thanks to the Miyafuji family telling her about it, and their history, when she visited them three years ago. If her memory is correct, then the spell she is seeing Tri-Edge charge up is called Drain Heart.

"This… This marks the beginning of the slaughter!" Tri-Edge yelled as she brought her hands up, preparing to send the spell down to end the lives of the Witches below her.

And that was when all the pain she had previously ignored from the battle decided to rear its ugly head.

Tri-Edge started screaming in agony as all the pain hit her at once, resulting in her losing focus on the spell as it faded from existence as she clutched her head in a vain attempt to ease the agonizing pain.

Mio and the rest of the Witches were stunned, as well as confused as to why Tri-Edge just suddenly started screaming in pain. Mio, however, was worried about Tri-Edge's, or rather Yoshika's, safety.

That was when the pain became too much for her to bear; the rouge Witch fell unconscious and dropped out of the sky, her Striker Unit detaching from her legs. Then, 47 orbs of light shot out of her body, 46 of them shooting off in different directions. The last one, however, flew down into the formation and entered Kitano's body, causing her to stir as she regained consciousness, the mark of Tri-Edge fading away.

That was when the Witches realized what the orbs of light were; each orb was the soul of a Witch that Tri-Edge had taken, and now they were returning back to their respective bodies.

Mio's visible eye widened as she noticed Tri-Edge falling from the sky, unconscious. "Yoshika!" she yelled, taking the other Witches by surprise as she boosted her way up and caught the unconscious girl, while Lucchini, noticing the falling Rocket Strikers, flew towards them and caught them.

Ursula, who had noticed Lucchini catching the stolen Komet Striker, was overjoyed at finally getting the Rocket Striker back.

That was when Minna saw Mio start flying back to base while carrying Tri-Edge's unconscious form. "Mio?" she questioned, flying after her. This got the attention of the rest of the Witches, who started following her.

* * *

Mio arrived first, and after carefully getting out of her Striker Unit and placing it in its designated docking bay, stood still and waited for the rest to arrive, still holding onto Tri-Edge's unconscious body.

She didn't have to wait long, because in a span of five minutes, the rest of the Witches of the 501st JFW and the 31st JFS landed and docked their Strikers, with Ursula carrying the Komet and placing it in a spare docking bay, then getting some chains and locking it up tight.

Minna walked up to her. "You do know that we're going to have to put her in the interrogation room, right?" she asked Mio.

Mio grunted. "I don't like it, but I have no choice."

"We need to remove her armor first, though." Trude said, something that the others agreed with.

While the Witches started to carefully remove Tri-Edge's armor, Marseille made a move to remove the swords.

"**Touch me, and consider yourself dead."** An ominous male voice said, startling all the Witches present.

"W-Who said that?" Kitano asked shakily.

That was when the swords unsheathed themselves, snapped open, and started floating in midair. **"That would be me."** The swords responded, shocking all the Witches.

Mio shook off her shock and narrowed her eyes. "So you're the forbidden twin swords that the Miyafuji's told me about… Empty Skies, one of the Lost Weapons."

"**Indeed I am."** The swords responded. "**Now answer me this; what do you plan to do to my wielder?"**

"We're taking her in for questioning." Minna responded, after getting over her shock. "Will that be a problem?"

"**How do I know if you're not lying?"** the twin swords asked accusingly.

"Because I will make sure that is all that happens. You have my word as a Sakamoto." Mio answered.

"…**And a Sakamoto never goes back on her word… fine, then. But you'd better not try anything else."** Empty Skies warned.

"Understandable." Mio said, as the two swords folded themselves and returned to their sheaths, which Mio picked up.

By then, the rest of the Witches have removed all of Tri-Edge's armor, and Trude handcuffed the rouge Witch with anti-magic handcuffs to keep her from escaping. Mio didn't like it, but it was standard protocol when dealing with rouge Witches. Minna then carried Tri-Edge over to the interrogation room, with the rest of the Witches following.

* * *

When the group reached the interrogation room, Minna and Trude took off the handcuffs and strapped Tri-Edge to the far wall using solid steel, anti-magic restraints that were one meter thick on each of her arms and legs. At that point, the interrogation officer walked into the room.

"This is her?" The interrogation officer asked.

"Yes," Minna answered, writing down several questions on a slip of paper and giving it to the interrogator. "These are the questions that we need answers to. Can you do it?"

The interrogator nodded, and with that, the Witches headed to the hangar at Ursula's insistence. Leaving the interrogator to do his work after Tri-Edge regained consciousness.

* * *

In the hangar, Ursula was unchaining the Komet to take it for a test flight, with Shirley instantly volunteering to take it out.

"New speed record, here I come!" the Liberion Witch exclaimed as she jumped into the Rocket Striker and pumped her magic into it.

To everyone's immense shock, the Komet didn't start up. There wasn't even a reaction to Shirley's magic.

"What's going on?! Why won't it start up?!" Shirley exclaimed.

"This never happened before! Why isn't it starting?!" Ursula asked.

"**You think Tri-Edge would allow anyone to fly it so easily?"** Empty Skies, which were being held by Mio, asked.

"What do you mean?" Mio asked back.

"**Ever heard of a Magic Signature Lock?"** The swords answered Mio's question with one of his own.

Ursula's eyes widened. "No wonder why it won't start… she used one of the strongest binding spells to ever exist! The Komet will only respond to her!"

This shocked the other Witches, but Minna had another question for the swords. "So… what's with Tri-Edge's armor? And why did she suddenly scream in pain?"

"**That's an easy one; it was her armor."** Empty Skies answered.

This earned confused looks from all the Witches.

The swords sighed. **"Her armor has strong magical properties such as being impenetrable from bullets, along with an extremely high resistance to magic-based attacks. But this comes at the cost of draining a high amount of magic to maintain and that the wearer still feels quite a bit of pain from each hit, and this applies for all the pieces of her armor. But the mask also had another role."**

"And that role was…?" Questioned Ursula.

"**The mask put her brain into a hypothermic state by reducing the amount of oxygen that she can breathe, severely reducing her reaction time, along with making her unable to feel pain so long as it was worn. When the mask is removed, it takes approximately five minutes for the brain to register all that pain at the same time, which caused her to pass out."** Empty Skies explained.

This shocked all the other Witches, but Mio was still worried about Tri-Edge's safety, which Minna noticed. "You seem to be worried about her. Do you happen to know her?" she asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do." The Fuso Witch answered, shocking all the other Witches present. "I also know her real name as well."

"You know her real name? What is it?!" Trude asked, wanting to know the name of, in her eyes, one of the strongest Witches to ever exist. The others nodded, also wanting to know the real name of the infamous Tri-Edge.

Mio was silent at first, but after a few seconds of internal debate, answered the question that was on everyone's minds. "Her real name… is Yoshika Miyafuji, the daughter of Professor Ichiro Miyafuji."

There was a period of total silence that lasted for a full five seconds, but then. "WHAT?!" came the shouts of shock from all the other Witches.

"She… She's Professor Miyafuji's daughter?!" Minna exclaimed in pure shock.

"Yes, she is." Mio answered. "Minna… please… keep this off the official record. We don't know her reasons for her actions yet."

"But, Mio…" Minna started to protest, but upon seeing Mio's pleading look, she stopped. "Alright, then… but we need to know her reasons. Come on; we're going to the interrogation room."

With that said, all the Witches started for the interrogation room.

* * *

In the interrogation room, things were not going well for the interrogator. No matter what question he asked, the bound Witch, who had regained consciousness, refused to answer. By now, the interrogation had lasted for twenty minutes.

The man sighed. "Freak…" he muttered under his breath, but Tri-Edge still heard him.

The rouge Witch's anger flared, and with pure rage fueling her actions, easily breaks free from the otherwise normally unbreakable restraints.

At that point, all the Witches were in the room, and they were all shocked at what they saw; the only one who could break the restraints was Barkhorn, and even she had to use magic to perform such a feat. What really shocked the Witches was that Tri-Edge did it without using magic, showing that her petite body was far stronger than they thought.

"Stop it!" Mio yelled, pulling out a pistol that was loaded with a tranquilizer dart. Before Tri-Edge could react, Mio pulled the trigger, sending the dart straight at the rouge Witch, hitting her in the shoulder.

Tri-Edge staggered for a moment, but before she collapsed, she uttered one word. "Traitors…" she then collapsed, once again unconscious.

The Witches were thunderstruck, and Mio only had one thought. _'What could have caused her to act this way? Her father's apparent murder can't be the only reason… and why did she call me a traitor?'_

The rest of the Witches finally got over their shock, and Minna put her hand on Mio's shoulder. "We need to take her to the higher ups. It's out of our hands." The red-haired Karlsland Witch said, with most of the others nodding in agreement.

Mio, however, was having none of it. "I won't allow that. One, her father's death can't be the only reason why she's acting this way. And two… I made a promise to her family to find her and take her back."

This shocked the others, but Ursula shook her head. "Taking her back to her family as she is now won't do any good."

"What do you mean?" Raisa asked, not understanding.

"What I mean is that, since she is obviously set on revenge, if Mio takes her back now and keeps her with her family, she'll fall into a depression so great that she'll eventually commit suicide." The blond-haired researcher/Witch answered.

The Witches were stunned at that, but Mio recoiled in shock; she hadn't thought of that, and there was _no way_ she was going to let that happen.

"But why does she hate us so much? And why did she call us traitors? It doesn't make sense!" Lucchini yelled.

"**Are you sure you want to know? The truth isn't pretty in the least."** Empty Skies asked.

The Witches looked at the twin swords that Mio was holding, and they all nodded simultaneously.

Empty Skies sighed the best a pair of sentient swords could. **"Very well. It all began when she was ten…"**


	5. Chapter 5

**Driven by Revenge, Tri-Edge Vol. 1: Rebirth**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 5: Flashback Arc Part 1: The Betrayal and the Meeting**

* * *

Empty Skies showed the Witches what had happened the day that Yoshika's family had received the death notice of Professor Ichiro, and how heartbroken the family was, especially the only daughter of the family. Then the swords showed them the following events, including Yoshika using her "Decryption" ability to read the blacked-out document, her falling into a rage, and the swords introducing himself. After a brief discussion, Yoshika wrote her family a note and placed it on her bed, taking the swords with her as she ran away. Empty Skies then showed how he trained her in the art of stealth while she was on the ship that was destined for Imperial Karlsland, which impressed the Witches greatly, especially when the swords explained to them about her second ability, "Color Alteration", and showing how she used that ability to hide herself from the crew of the ship. It then showed how Yoshika snuck into the base after the ship docked at Imperial Karlsland and her stealing the Komet.

When the swords said that Yoshika had enough magical power to fly the Komet for fifteen hours nonstop when she was ten made all the Witches' jaws drop.

Then the swords showed them the moment that she renamed herself as Tri-Edge, a name that would eventually be feared by all Witches.

**"Now,"** Empty Skies said **"The first real major events don't happen until one year later."**

"What events are you talking about?" Katou asked.

**"These events."** the swords responded as he showed the Witches the events that he was talking about.

* * *

_Begin Flashback_

_It has been one year since Tri-Edge stole the Komet Striker Unit, and (due to a lack of human contact, along with her starting to lose her trust in other humans, seeing as how Maloney killed her father) she trusted no one but herself and her twin swords, Empty Skies. The swords have given her basic training on how to survive in the wild, and she has honed her skills to the point that she has learned to thrive in the vast wilderness._

_Yoshika, or rather Tri-Edge as she now prefers to be called, was currently hunting a herd of deer when she heard a twig snap, causing the herd of deer that she was hunting to suddenly be alert. Looking at her feet, she cursed to herself as she realized that she stepped on a twig; a costly mistake when hunting._

_The herd suddenly bolted, causing Tri-Edge to grit her teeth in anger. She was just about to throw one of the twin swords at the herd in hopes of taking down one of them when a shot rang out and one of the deer dropped dead. She cautiously stepped out of her hiding place when she heard a voice. "Who are you to trespass on my property?" a gruff, male voice asked._

_Tri-Edge whirled around to face a man who looked like he was in his 40s and was carrying a hunting rifle with a strap on it. Strapping the rifle to his back and walking over to the dead deer, he hefted the deer over his shoulders in an impressive display of strength. "What's a girl like you doing out here on my property?" the man asked again._

_Tri-Edge, still cautious, tried to think up of an excuse, but couldn't come up with anything. "I was hunting." She answered truthfully; being truthful was the only thing she could do at the moment._

_The man narrowed his eyes. "How did you get onto my property, then? I have the entire property fenced off with barbed wire."_

_Tri-Edge, in response, slowly walked over to a bush and pulled out her hidden Komet Striker Unit._

_The man's eyes widened. "You're a Witch? Then why are you... You know what? Never mind." The man said._

_Tri-Edge's eyes narrowed, but she decided to go with the flow for now._

_"You need something to eat? I'll have plenty of meat here." the man said, motioning to the dead deer to let her know what he was talking about._

_Tri-Edge was hesitant, but decided to trust the man for the moment. Nodding, she waited for him to make the next move._

_"Very well, then." The man said. "My cabin is this way." He then walked off, expecting Tri-Edge to follow, who did so after grabbing her Striker Unit, sheathing her twin swords, and a moment of hesitation; she was still unused to having human contact again after a year of being alone._

_Tri-Edge followed the man to a cabin that was well-hidden in the trees. When the man walked into the cabin, she quickly and efficiently hid the Komet in the trees, making sure that the Striker Unit's dark green and black camouflage pattern completely disguised it. Making sure that the man didn't know what she had done, she quickly jumped down from the tree and walked into the cabin, making sure to look as though she had only placed her Striker Unit outside._

_Looking around the interior of the cabin, Tri-Edge found that it was rather simple; there were only two rooms in the entire building, a bathroom and a living area. The living area of the cabin consisted of a simple kitchen area, a dining table with a few chairs, a wardrobe, and a bed. It also had a chimney. The cabin had four windows, one on each wall._

_The man got a knife out of the kitchen and walked back outside where he left the deer, leaving Tri-Edge in the cabin. She decided to wait patiently at the table to see what the man would do next._

_She didn't have to wait long; because thirty minutes later, he walked back into the cabin with two sticks of grilled deer meat. He held one out to her. "You want it?" he asked simply._

_Tri-Edge, after a moment of thinking, took the offered grilled deer-on-a-stick and proceeded to eat._

_After eating the offered food, the man looked up and noticed the time. "It's getting late." The man said. "It's time to turn in for the night." He then walked to the bed and, after tucking himself in, fell asleep. He seemed to be all right. He neither made a move nor did he do anything suspicious._

**"Always be on alert Tri-Edge... You might not know what would happen."** _Empty Skies advised in her mind._

'I must be cautious... yes... hoaaam... sleepy... maybe tomorrow...'_ she thought. Just like that, Tri-Edge also decided to get some sleep, so she walked outside the cabin and climbed a tree. When she made herself comfortable, Tri-Edge fell asleep._

* * *

_The next morning, Tri-Edge's eyes shot wide as she scanned her surroundings. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she climbed down the tree to check on the man who was with her last night to make sure nothing wrong is going on. Opening the door and walking into the cabin, Tri-Edge looked around for the man, but instead found that it was empty. Growing suspicious, she slowly walked to the kitchen area to find any left-over existence of the same man before her sharp hearing (which was enhanced due to her rigorous training) picked up the sound of approaching people through the woods, apparently talking about something._

_Tri-Edge strained her hearing to listen to what they were saying. After a few moments of focusing, she was finally able to hear the approaching people._

_"Are you sure that the poacher's cabin is this way?" a voice asked._

_"Yes, I am certain of it." Replied a voice that was far too familiar to Tri-Edge for her liking; it was the voice of the man she had met yesterday._

_"This is great!" a third voice exclaimed. "We can finally arrest that poacher once and for all!"_

_Her mind on overdrive, Tri-Edge finally understood what was happening; the man (who she now knew was a poacher) had framed her as the poacher and managed to get a few reserve rangers on his side. And now they were going to arrest her for a crime that she didn't commit and he would run free from his crimes._

'I knew it!' _Tri-Edge thought angrily._ 'I knew that I shouldn't have trusted that human!'

"**Calm down. We must now find a way to escape this situation."** _Empty Skies calmed her down as he spoke of the best option she could do for now._

_Looking around frantically for an escape point, she remembered the chimney. Running to it, she found that it was just big enough for her to fit through. She started climbing the chimney when she heard the three people were very close to the cabin. Luckily, she was able to climb out of the chimney right when the three people entered the cabin._

_Taking no chances, Tri-Edge leaped from the roof directly into the nearest tree. Looking around, she spotted her twin swords, which she had left with her Striker Unit, on a branch of a nearby tree. She quickly hopped from tree to tree until she reached her destination. Strapping Empty Skies to her back, she silently slipped on the Komet to her legs and started the rocket engines._

_Needless to say, the sound of rockets got the attention of the three that were in the cabin real quick._

_The three rushed outside, only to witness Tri-Edge take off from the trees and into the distant sky._

_The two reserve rangers were angry at losing the supposed "poacher", but the man that was with him was different for an entirely different reason; now that the rangers knew where his hideout was, he would have to move to a different location._

_She could only rest once she is a few miles away, hiding in the deeper part of the forests. "Humans are not to be trusted." She confirmed her beliefs. "It was stupid of me to trust that man just for a night's dinner." She cursed at her supposed naïveté. "I better not make the same mistake..." All the time she spoke in soliquoi, Empty Skies did not say a single word as he listened to the tearing heart of the young girl._

_Flashback Pause_

* * *

At this point, the Witches were feeling a little sympathetic towards Tri-Edge, and a bit of anger at the poacher for blaming her for a crime she didn't commit.

**"The next major event occurred around two months after that incident."** Empty Skies said as he showed the Witches what he was talking about.

* * *

_Flashback Resume_

'Again!' _She cursed in her mind._

_**"Right!"** Empty Skies shouted and so she ducked as wolves fangs flashed past her eyes._

_Again she was chased by wolves and again her Strikers are not nearby._

_*Slash*_

_Cutting apart the guts of one of the wolves she continued to run being chased by howling wolves. Their number could easily reach two dozen. From their howling they might even call for more of their friends or other packs to help. She must get to her Strikers she hid in the trunk of the tree. It is just a few more meters._

_"Gah!" Her arms were slashed, and although not deep, they hurt like hell. She would have curled up in pain if not for her current circumstances._

_Blood dripped down from her elbows to her arms, the leaking sapped her strength slowly but surely. As she kept running, her heart raced and blood poured, soon she would be out of strength to even climb a tree. This indeed a dire situation. It might be possible that she will die today._

_**"Do not lose hope! We will survive through this!"** Ah... Empty Skies is encouraging her as always. As he said she must survive, for revenge!_

_With renewed spirit she continued her run as she counter slashed the wolves that dared came close and attack but their numbers are not wavering._

_This forest wasn't called the Wolf Forest for nothing. The wolves are possibly in the hundreds and she only took down a few, three or four._

_She could see that some of her attackers have wounds caused by her blade. They should have hit their limits a long time ago and so did she. Why would they follow her that far?_

_**"They see you as a weak target and I think that their pride is hurt as you are able to kill some of their comrades." **Empty Skies made his deduction that she assumed to be correct in its entirety. **"Our tree is within sight. Come! Use your last strength! If we reach the branches we would be safe."**_

_It is easy for him to say that but it was hard to do for the stamina drained Tri-Edge._

_When she touched the trunk of the tree, her strength disappeared as she stumbled down onto its roots. The wolves growling near behind, not running and were closing in slowly on their finally cornered prey._

'It is indeed the end is it? I would die here without even finalizing my goal? My ambitions?' _she thought to herself._

_The wolves stepped even closer and closer as they bared their fangs, ready to feed._

'I refuse to die!' _She refused but her body did not comply. Her fingers twitching but unable to move_. 'Move!' _She ordered but not even her voice could be unleashed. Her rough breathing is the only thing that can be heard in this clearing other than growls._

_She should have lost quite the amount of blood... Her sight was getting blurry..._

_With the last of her nonexistent strength, she gripped on Empty Skies to do a final stand. She could not even do a simple blade stance as her feet and arms shook._

_The wolves are ready to attack. Their muscles bulged as they are ready to pounce, fangs ready to bite and claws ready to shred. It should be her end... at least until someone interfered with the wolves hunt._

_A flash of silver and a few of the wolves that lunged were cut in bits and pieces._

_It obviously is a sword technique since a man with a sheathed long sword suddenly showed up in front of her. Blurry and unable to speak, she could not even think much anymore._

_He gripped on his sword as the wolves growled._

_*Whoosh!*_

_A sudden wave of winds lashed out at her face and the wolves. It was killing intent. The wolves are afraid of him! The wolves that are absolute in number are retreating step by step. Once the clearing is cleared of wolves the man stepped towards Tri-Edge._ 'Who is this man that saved me?' _she thought._ 'Wait... I must not trust... Gah...'

_"Do not move." He told her. "Your wounds are grave indeed." He inspected with pure concern in his tone. "I can heal it but it may leave scars..."_

'Just leave me alone…'_ she wanted to speak but she could not._

_"It would not do for a girl to have a scar. I guess I have to do extra hard work." He raised his hands._

'He wants to do something to me, to my body!' _Alarmed, Tri-Edge wanted to force her body to move and back away or at least lash out at the assailant but..._

_*Wuingg...*_

'Warm... What is this light? Healing magic? A man? Using healing magic? Who is this guy?' _Tri-Edge thought._

_"Close your eyes and sleep child." He soothed her whose mind is running on hyper speed, "You will need the rest." the man told her._

_For some reason she could not resist and say no even in her mind. His voice was kind and gentle... just like her father..._

_After she fell asleep, the man's attention turned to Tri-Edge's twin swords. "I can sense that you're a pair of sentient twin swords. I need your help; do you happen to know about herbs and which ones I'll need for painkillers?"_

_Empty Skies was silent at first, before he answered. **"As a matter of fact, I do."**_

_The man nodded. "Then I'll need your help. Leave one of your blades here to keep watch over the girl, alright?"_

_Empty Skies thought about it for a moment, before he agreed, letting the man hold onto one of his blades as he put the other one up against the nearby tree._

* * *

_*Chirp, chirp*_

_It was morning. _'Wait!? What happened yesterday!?'_ Tri-Edge quickly scanned her surroundings to see a poorly made camp. The rocks enclosing on ashes, fire she assumed, and the two piles of dry leaves as beds. It is poorly made but good enough and it is not in any way her work. She does not have this kind of workmanship._

_She grabbed Empty Skies that was propped against the nearby tree as she looked around to see the man that for some reason could use magic. She is sure of it. It could not be a dream since the pain still reverberates within her flesh though there are not a single wound nor scar the situation indeed happen._

_"Wake up already?" The same gentle voice of that man rang out behind her and she lashed out with her swords from the sudden appearance though, only to be blocked pretty easily by his long sword's scabbard. "Whoa~ an energetic one, eh?" What an insult! "Though the wounds are healed, you mental wounds should still give you imaginary pain." Since he mentions it, her body still hurts like hell._

_"That was one hell of a night you have there, eh girl?" He spoke to her with a tone of amusement. It was sickening._

'Shut up!' _She wanted to lash out but the pain does not allow her to open her mouth or she'll cringe. Then he took something out of his pouch. _'A leaf?' _He also took out a bowl as he crushed the leaves in it with a stone grinder._

_His arms lashed out in and out of the pouch as numerous dust and leaves of different shapes and sizes were mixed into the herb mix. When he was done, it was a mixture of a greenish-red substance, it doesn't feel like something that can be consumed yet he pushed it towards Tri-Edge implying that she should eat it._

'It should be herbs…' _She reasoned. _'Hopefully nothing goes wrong.' _She took a sip and…_

_*Pfffffft*_

_She spit out the contents immediately. _'Bitter! It's so bitter!' _She cursed at the taste of the herbs. It is so bitter that after it is spit out, the taste remains on her tongue._

_**"It is a kind of natural pain killer, Tri-Edge. It is best if you drink it."** Empty Skies recommended._

'How did he know about herbs and mixtures?'_ She asked for a moment in her head._

_But sensing her unasked question, Empty Skies answered **"The Miyafuji's have been great doctors once their art for battle is unused, I have had geniuses of your family wield me."**_

_As expected of a pair of divine sentient swords. He is indeed wise._

_**"You better listen to your partner."** Another voice rung but it is not that man's but a woman's. Where it came from is a mystery. The man looked a bit distraught at the sudden speech of the non-existent woman as he scolded "Don't surprise anyone by talking, wait for your introductions." and slapped his scabbard and a "**Kya!"** rang._

_The sword!? His sword speaks too!_

_Flashback Pause_

* * *

The Witches were silent, trying to make sense of what they had just seen.

"Did...did a full-grown _man_ use magic?!" Perrine asked incredulously.

"I...I think so." Raisa replied.

"Was it just me...or did that man look like a Liberion?" Shirley asked.

Now that the other Witches thought about it, the man _did_ look like a Liberion.

Minna thought about the matter even deeper, wondering where she could possibly find this Liberion... Wizard.

Mio, however, was shivering in fear at the anticipation of a tragedy that would scar Tri-Edge for the rest of her life.

She didn't know how right she was.


	6. Chapter 6

**Driven by Revenge, Tri-Edge Vol. 1: Rebirth**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 6: Flashback Arc Part 2: The Personality Split**

* * *

"So, what happened next?" Marseille asked.

"**Shortly after that, the man, known as Matthew Hawkins, took her in as an apprentice after a few difficulties."** Empty Skies replied.

"An… apprentice?" Minna asked uncertainly.

"**Yes…"** Empty Skies answered. **"After that, he has been teaching her advanced spells, and how to control her insanely high amounts of magic power. Of course, there were also some good times and some bad times. But after two months, Tri-Edge started to look up to him like the brother she never had. But…"**

"But it didn't last…" Minna said, taking the hint. "So, what happened?"

"**The next major event happened merely five days after she started seeing him as a brother…"** the swords answered.

* * *

_Flashback Start_

_Tri-Edge was looking at what was once her surrogate brother in slight fear. "E-Empty Skies… do you know what's going on?"_

_The man, who Tri-Edge knew as Matthew, was convulsing in agony, with what looked like black bubbles of mud coming off of him. The same thing was happening to his sword, which was called Savior._

_"__**I do, but I can't believe it. After all these centuries… the AIDA virus re-emerges…"**__ Empty Skies replied._

_"__**Please… stay away… from me…" **__the infected form of Matthew strained to say. _

_**"Master, I... Losing control functions..."**__ Savior followed, her sentient program being overwritten._

_"__**His willpower is much stronger than I thought. Normally, those who are infected fall to the virus in seconds."**__ Empty Skies mused._

_"__Can things possibly get any worse…?" Tri-Edge muttered, trying to think up of a way to save her brother-figure._

_That was when the screeches of several Neuroi were heard._

_"__**You just had to say it, didn't you?"**__ Empty Skies asked in an annoyed tone._

_Matthew's arm rose, seemingly against his own will if the look on his face was any indication, and made a slashing motion at the three Neuroi that showed up._

_The three Neuroi were hit by several wind blades that Matthew created against his will, and they shattered instantly._

_"__**I warned you…"**__ he said in a sad voice as he felt his control slipping. Using the last of his willpower, he turned to his sister-figure and said in a pleading tone that was weakening by the second.__** "P…please… kill… me…"**_

_Tri-Edge was reluctant, she stepped one foot backwards._

_**"Before we hurt anyone else..." **__Savior reasoned._

_**"Kill me/Destroy me." **__Both of them pleaded._

_With that, Matthew's control was finally broken as the AIDA completely possessed him. His form was completely covered in black bubbles for a moment, before they parted, revealing him in a terrifying new form._

_His hair, which was previously brown, was now black with dark red streaks in it. His clothes which consisted of a pair of blue jeans and a white t-shirt with a black jacket were now black with red trim. The same could be said for Savior, his sentient sword. What was once the bright and divine sword now look demonic, tainted black, miasma poured out around the blade twisting the atmosphere around it and its wielder._

_The possessed Matthew turned to face Tri-Edge, and shifted into an offensive stance and before Tri-Edge could react, he attacked her like he was the devil himself._

_Caught off-guard, Tri-Edge barely blocked his attack with her unfolded twin blades but that is not the end of the attack._

_He continued to attack with the flurry of blows, each getting stronger by the second, but were parried by Tri-Edge's own blades. _

_The enraged 'Matthew' though having technique is showing multiple openings, it is proof that his mind has truly been consumed as he fell into a berserk-like state. Yet, Tri-Edge did not counter; she refrained from countering, as she is thinking of ways to save him. An application of healing magic maybe? Or an electric charge?_

_**"Tri-Edge..."**__ Empty Skies advised with a sympathetic tone._

_"No..."_

_**"Do not hesitate..." **_

_"No..."_

_**"Do as he asks..."**_

_"No, No, No, No, NO, NO, NO!"_

_**"TRI-EDGE!"**__ Empty Skies roared losing his composure. __**"Understand what is needed now!" **__The 'monster' in front of the two growled with a feral glare, the sword no longer held in his hand but within his jaws, he has lost what is meant to be 'human', the intelligence. __**"If you truly respect him, end him now before he does something that degrades him further."**_

_"But." Tri-Edge tried to reason, but was cut off before she can even try._

_**"NO BUTS! Tri-Edge..."**__ Empty Skies roared once more before his tone turned gentle once more imploring her to act, to finish it._

_'Matthew' jumped onto Tri-Edge with amazing agility, a lock that she easily get out from her small stature. The short second when she escapes is a perfect time to strike back but... "Ugh... I…" she is still reluctant. She is still trying to think of other ways._

_Not given any time to think, 'Matthew' screamed and chased after Tri-Edge. Even if she magically enforced her legs to run faster, he followed with amazing precision through the thick forests. _

_"I..." Tri-Edge couldn't make herself do it. _

_'Matthew' used the tree bark to jump from one tree to another, attacking Tri-Edge and then flying off somewhere else before striking again. Under such surprising and erratic attacks Tri-Edge still ran back and forth protecting her back from the occasional attacks but sometimes she get cuts, shallow ones, left and right._

_"I!" Her grip kept tightening as hopelessness started to invade her mind._

_All went down when she hit a dead end, a cliff soaring high up into the sky. If she goes left or right now she will be intercepted. At this point her hopelessness is at its peak. She is tired of running away, her heart is numbed from pain and the comfortable amount of blood loss just helps it further._

_'Matthew' saw that she is no longer running. Thinking that she gave up 'Matthew' huffed in discontent as he stepped closer a step at a time as if putting an effort isn't worth it._

_*Stab*_

_With a quick turn and a fluid blade motion, Tri-Edge put both blades of Empty Skies deep into his stomach piercing the organ in six different locations. Though not a fatal wound, the sheer blood loss will be fatal over time but the second stunned moment that was caused by the sudden attack is enough. Magic coursed within her body and she dragged the twin swords upwards in two different directions._

_'Matthew's torso fell from his hips yet he did not die. He choked blood but the black mud is trying to reform the body, merging the two pieces of flesh together._

_**"Tri-Edge..."**__ The silent blade now implored on the emotionless Witch. He could sense what she feels but he wants her to be honest and not lie to herself. _

_Tri-Edge flicked one of her twin swords as its blades merged into one for better piercing capability._

_Silently, wordlessly, she plunged that sword through the heart of her enemy, devoid of feelings. _

_In a pool of blood, above a corpse of someone she loves as a family, she did not weep, she did not cry. She stared at the remains of what is her teacher, her friend, her brother, without any emotion at all._

_"Thanks..." The spectral voice of two, male and female, echoed. "And... Sorry." The male voice added._

_Internally, Tri-Edge started crying in despair._

_Flashback Pause_

* * *

The Witches were frozen in horror at what Tri-Edge was forced to do. None of them couldn't even begin to think what would happen if they were in her shoes.

"**That event was what caused her mind to start the split." **Empty Skies said.

That got the attention of the Witches. "What do you mean by that?" Katou asked.

"**That can be explained with the next set of events."** The swords answered.

* * *

_Flashback Resume_

_It had been three weeks ever since Tri-Edge was forced to kill her brother-figure. She had been wandering aimlessly, opting to go wherever the wind blows. She has no aim._

_She has no destination._

_She has nowhere to go._

_Her mind's dysfunction is hampering her thought process. Her heart-broken mind could not perceive those thoughts._

_She couldn't hear anything, not even her twin swords._

_She has been wandering through forests, deserts, villages, towns, and cities, under a shroud she survived for no reason. _

_Then, losing whatever strength she had left, she collapsed on the dirt road of a village, her Strikers that she had been carrying dropping to either side of her._

_Her stomach was full, so hunger wasn't the cause. And she only woke up from her sleep a few hours ago, so fatigue wasn't the cause. Her muscles weren't hurting, so muscle failure wasn't it. She also didn't feel ill, either._

_Why then?_

_Why does her body not comply?_

_Why does her body not move?_

_At that moment, someone picked up her petite body, holding her bridal style, while someone else picked up her Striker Unit._

'Who…Who is it…?'_ Tri-Edge wanted to ask, but now even her mouth did not comply, so she stayed silent._

_Why? Stop… She wanted to be left alone._

_The next morning, Tri-Edge woke up on a bed that she knew wasn't hers. Slowly sitting up, she looked around the room, seeing that the room had a dresser, a wardrobe, a closet, a window, and a desk, on which were her twin swords._

_Carefully getting up off the bed, Tri-Edge slowly walked over to the desk and grabbed her swords, strapping them to her waist. She then went over to the window to take a look outside._

_That was when the door opened, revealing the couple from yesterday._

_Flashback Pause_

* * *

"**After that couple found her, they did their best to bring her out of her shell, and they were somewhat successful."** Empty Skies told them.

"So, what does this have to do with a split?" Inagaki asked.

"**I'm getting there. Anyway, after five months of hard work, Tri-Edge started seeing them as the aunt and uncle she never had."** The twin swords replied.

"But it didn't last, did it?" Mio asked, already starting to see what was about to happen.

"**Fate really seems to like screwing her over."** Empty Skies said solemnly.

* * *

_Flashback Resume_

_Tri-Edge was gathering herbs from the nearby forest for the night's dinner. Just two days ago, she had started to see them as the aunt and uncle she never had. It turns out, to her pleasant surprise, that both of them could use magic, and had given her a communicator (like the ones that Witches in the military use) so that they could keep in touch with each other._

_That was when she heard the signature screech of a Neuroi, causing her to look up. And her eyes widened in shock._

_There wasn't just one Neuroi up there, nor was there two, three, or even five._

_What was up in the sky was an armada of three hundred Neuroi, and they were all headed for the village._

_Tri-Edge got up with a start. _'No! I refuse to lose anyone again!'_ She ran towards the village as fast as she can go, using her magic to go even faster._

_Running up to the shed where the Komet was stored, she hopped in and started up the engines as fast as she could. Using a short takeoff run, she was up in the air ready to take on the approaching threat. _

_However, no sooner did she get up in the air is when the Neuroi started attacking, firing beams right at her, taking her by surprise._

_Hastily throwing up shield, Tri-Edge was able to block most of the beams, while dodging the rest. When the initial barrage stopped, she drew her twin swords and charged the first Neuroi she came across. But before she could get close enough to slash it, it ejected small spherical drones from its body, all of which started firing at her._

_Forced to break off from her attack, Tri-Edge noticed from the corner of her eye that the other Neuroi started firing at the village, destroying buildings left and right. Her eyes widened; that family was in danger!_

_To her horror, she spotted the family that had taken care of her for the last five months running away, but a single Neuroi had made it past her and fired a beam at them._

_Reacting with speed she didn't know she had, Tri-Edge easily broke the sound barrier and intercepted the beam with her shield at the last second._

_Tri-Edge turned to the family with a relieved look on her face, which then turned into one of shock and horror when a beam she didn't see coming vaporized the two she had tried to protect._

_Again… it happened again. She lost two more people whom she considered family._

_First it was her father, them it was Matthew, and now it was these two._

_By now, her heart had pretty much shattered._

_Then she heard something over the radio… it sounded like two soldiers talking._

"These blasted Neuroi never stop coming!" _The first soldier exclaimed._

"There's a village nearby, shouldn't we help them out?" _The second soldier asked._

"Don't bother. That village is too small to even _consider_ saving. We're moving on." _The first soldier replied._

_The second soldier agreed with him._

_Tri-Edge had heard every single word, and was just about to go insane. Screaming in anger and despair, her psyche split into two different halves; Yoshika, the "light-half", and Tri-Edge, the "dark-half", with Tri-Edge taking control._

_Tri-Edge stopped screaming, and leveled a glare of pure hatred at the Neuroi armada._

_The fight couldn't even be considered a fight; it was a slaughter. Flying at well over the speed of sound, she destroyed every single Neuroi that was a part of the armada._

_By the time the armada was destroyed, only thirty minutes had passed._

_Several Witches were flying in to combat the Neuroi, but were shocked when all they saw were white fragments, and a single Witch holding two triple-edge swords._

_Before any of the newly arrived Witches could react, Tri-Edge, still consumed in anger (but was at least able to identify the newcomers as Witches), boosted towards them at an astonishing speed, lashing out with her swords and leaving her signature mark on two of them._

_The two Witches, now comatose, fell out of the sky, being caught by two of the remaining three from the formation._

"_Who are you?!" the third Witch yelled._

_The unknown Witch was silent at first, but then she replied in a cold tone that was laced with anger. "…The name… is Tri-Edge. You best remember that." Tri-Edge then flew off._

_Flashback Pause_

* * *

The Witches were silent, still thinking about what they had just seen.

"How horrible… for that to have happened to her…" Lynne said softly.

"So that's what you meant by split… her psyche was split into two." Minna said solemnly.

"Quick question." Lucchini said, getting the attention of the swords and the Witches. "What happened to that poacher from earlier?"

"**He was later caught and imprisoned. But Tri-Edge found him merely three weeks later. Trust me; you do NOT want to know what happened."** The swords warned.

Mio was silent at first. "I need to know."

"**Don't say I didn't warn you."** Empty Skies replied.

* * *

_Flashback Resume_

_Tri-Edge was currently standing at the edge of the forest overlooking the prison where she confirmed where the poacher was being kept. "So… this is where that blasted human is being kept, eh?" A savage grin formed on her face. "Well, then. I can't keep him waiting now, can I?"_

_20 minutes and a lot of sneaking around later, Tri-Edge was in front of the cell that was holding the poacher. She lightly tapped on the bars to get his attention. "Remember me?" She asked with a sickly sweet voice._

_The poacher's eyes widened; he remembered who she was._

"_So GLAD that you do." Tri-Edge said using the exact same tone, before she grabbed the bars and casually pushed them apart, allowing her to walk right in as she drew her twin swords and unfolded them._

_The man tried to make a run for the hole in the bars, but Tri-Edge cut him off._

_Flashback Pause_

* * *

"**Before I show you what happened next, keep in mind that back then, the Tri-Edge persona was still insane, and was highly unstable."** The twin swords said.

"What do you mean "still insane and highly unstable"?" Raisa asked.

Empty Skies answered her question with one of his own. **"Are you ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE that you want to see what happens next? You'll all probably have nightmares for the next several weeks."**

Mio nodded. "If I'm going to help her, then I'll need to know what happened in the past."

The two triple-edged swords were silent at first, but then sighed. **"Very well. This is what happened next."**

* * *

_Flashback Resume_

"_Ah, ah, ah. Can't have you running off now, can we?" Tri-Edge asked with a mad grin as her magic flared. "I'm going to… _**enjoy**_ this."_

_At that moment, several earth spikes erupted from the ground and launched them at the man, causing him to scream in pain as the spikes impaled his arms and legs and pinned him against a wall._

_Tri-Edge, using her natural fire-elemental magic, superheated the blades of Empty Skies until they were glowing white-hot. Then, with a deranged grin, she stabbed the man in the stomach with both swords, causing him to scream in agony._

_What happened next can be considered as extreme torture._

_With each wound that Tri-Edge inflicted on the man, they were cauterized shut due to the intense heat from the edges of her swords as she cut him apart, piece by piece._

_Twenty minutes later, the burned remains of body parts belonging to the now dead man were scattered across the cell, while Tri-Edge was laughing maniacally over his butchered and burned corpse._

_Flashback End_

* * *

The Witches all felt like throwing up their stomach contents in pure horror at how the poacher died.

"**After approximately three decades, the Tri-Edge personality stabilized and regained its sanity, which was when she really began training."** Empty Skies said after a few minutes, giving the Witches some time to recover.

That caught their attention. "Three decades? She would have lost her magic by then. And if was that long, then why does she look like she's still an early teenager?" Perrine asked, being the first to recover.

"**The answer lies in the areas known as the Lost Grounds."** The swords answered.

"Lost Grounds?" Shirley asked.

To everyone's surprise, it was Erica who answered. "The Lost Grounds are magic-rich areas that have been separated from this world. The only way to access them is to either possess a Lost Weapon, or an Epitaph. Time flows differently in the Lost Grounds; two centuries in any of the Lost Grounds is equivalent to one second in this world. Also, while in any of the Lost Grounds, the rate at which you age will be the same as if you were still in this world, allowing for millions of years of training in a short amount of time."

Everyone, save Ursula, was staring at her wide-eyed. "And how do you know that?" Perrine asked.

Erica sighed. "Tri-Edge isn't the only one with a Lost Weapon." She then reached behind her and, in a flash of light, drew two white guns that each had an orange magic blade emanating from it. "This is my Lost Weapon… DG-X."

"**Empty Skies, is that you?"** DG-X asked, getting the attention of the swords.

"**Well, I'll be. DG-X, I haven't seen you in centuries."** Empty Skies replied, earning raised eyebrows from the Hartmann twins.

"You know him?" Ursula asked the guns.

"**Of course we know each other. ALL the Lost Weapons know each other quite well."** DG-X responded. **"Hey, Empty Skies. I overheard what you were talking about. How bad is the mental damage?"**

"… **You'll need to see it for yourself."** Empty Skies answered.

"Is that possible?" Mio asked, who was now very worried.

"**It's possible with the correct spell. In fact, I can transport you all to her mindscape if needed."** The twin swords answered.

"Are you sure that is wise, Empty Skies?" A familiar voice asked.

The Witches whirled around, only to see the emotionless face of Tri-Edge.

"There are things in my mind that will break those with a weak will. Are you sure that is wise?" Tri-Edge asked again, ignoring the shocked looks of the Witches. Her attention then turned to Mio. "So you're the one who claims to want to help me. Let's see if that's true." Walking up to Mio, Tri-Edge lifted up a hand to the Major's forehead, preparing a spell.

The other Witches made a move to stop her, but Mio, who recognized what spell Tri-Edge was preparing, stopped them. "It's all right. I know what she's doing." She reassured them, but they still looked at Tri-Edge in caution.

Mio lowered her mental defenses as the rouge Witch placed her hand on her forehead. She then felt an odd sensation as Tri-Edge looked through her memories, searching to see if what Mio said was true. After a few seconds, the young rouge ended the spell, releasing Mio's forehead.

"…You speak the truth. Very well then. Prepare yourselves." Tri-Edge said as she quickly prepared another spell.

Before any of the Witches could react, they were engulfed in a white light.

* * *

The Witches groaned as they were rubbing their eyes, momentarily blinded. It didn't help that it was raining and that the wind was blowing harshly.

Wait… were they in a storm? But how?

"Why the hell are we in a storm?!" Lucchini cried out over the howling winds.

"Look! We can find shelter over there!" Shirley pointed to at what looked like an abandoned hospital.

Without a second thought, the group ran to the building.

Once the group was inside, the Witches started looking around, finding out that the building really was an abandoned hospital, as they were in what looked like the lobby, only that it was run-down. And... is that BLOOD dripping from the ceiling?!

"So you've arrived." Tri-Edge's voice rang out from above, causing everyone to look up.

Above them, slowly floating down to their level was Tri-Edge, but she looked very different than before. For one, she was wearing a black dress with her signature red symbol on the chest area. The other was that she had what looked like bat wings sprouting from her back, along with two smaller sets of bat wings on her head and ankles. She also had blood-red eyes that seemed to glow with power.

"Tri-Edge…" Mio breathed. "Where are we?"

"Welcome… to my mindscape." Tri-Edge said.

_That_ threw everyone in for a loop. THIS was Tri-Edge's mindscape?!

"How could this be your mindscape?!" Trude yelled in alarm.

"Remember what Empty Skies told you about the split?" Tri-Edge asked. "My mindscape wasn't always like this."

"Then...what did it look like before?" Minna asked.

Tri-Edge snapped her fingers, and the Witches all had visions of what looked like the hospital they were in, only that it looked brand new and that it was much more lively. People were walking in and out of the hospital, there was a constant flow of patients that were coming in and out, and the patients that were already in were being given the best treatment possible while keeping them happy. There were also all sorts of patients as well; ranging from toddlers to the elderly, boys and girls, blacks and whites (and everything in between), and people from all over the world, including Africa, Karlsland, Liberion, Orussia, Fuso, etc.; all and all, the perfect example of what a hospital should be.

The visions suddenly ended, and the Witches found themselves back in the run-down lobby with Tri-Edge, who froze time for everyone except for herself and Mio. "What you just saw was her desire to help all of those in need of help, no matter who they may be." Tri-Edge explained to Mio. "But during the course of her journey, the amount of patients started to decrease, and the rooms that weren't being used started to become run-down. When the split happened, those that were left died from what you'd call a plague, which was in fact her mind shattering. While I was insane, the damage grew even worse, resulting in what you see today. Once I regained my sanity, I isolated what was left of the Yoshika personality, the one that holds what little innocence she has left, to prevent any more damage to her than necessary. I've been trying my best to heal her, but I've hit a dead-end. That's where you come in, Mio Sakamoto. However, I've set up the mental defenses to prevent the Yoshika personality from being harmed any further, and unfortunately, I can't lower them. However, you can pass through them if you can solve each puzzle." At Mio's confused look, the dark personality of Yoshika Miyafuji elaborated. "The mental defenses are arranged like that of a puzzle, which only those with pure intentions can solve. I believe that I've explained enough. And Mio... don't tell anyone what I've just told you. I don't need their pity." With another snap of her fingers, Tri-Edge unfroze time for the rest of the Witches. "Now, begone!" With yet another snap, everyone else was transported out of her mindscape.

* * *

Everybody found themselves back in their own bodies back in the interrogation room, with Tri-Edge staring at them with an emotionless gaze. Without a word, the rouge Witch transformed into an azure ball of fire, which vanished in a flash of light.

Minna, alarmed at the rouge Witch's sudden escape, activated her magic and used her Area Analysis ability to locate her. Strangely, Tri-Edge wasn't making any attempt to escape; instead, she was only at the highest point on the base.

"She's still here. She's at the highest point of the base." Minna informed the others.

This caused most of the Witches to blink in surprise, while Mio's eyes narrowed. "Why isn't she trying to escape?" Trude asked, puzzled.

"She wants something, that much I can figure out." Mio answered, gaining their attention. "But I can't figure out what." _'I'm not going to betray Tri-Edge's trust. If she's desperate enough to have to ASK me to help her heal the Yoshika personality, then the damage must be much more severe than I first thought.'_

If only she knew.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry it took so long! I've been taking summer college classes and I was preoccupied. Anyway, the next chapter won't be up for quite a while, so please be patient.**

**Next chapter: Midnight Skirmish, is coming soon!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Driven by Revenge, Tri-Edge Rewrite Vol.1: Rebirth**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 7: Midnight Skirmish**

* * *

Sanya was on night patrol, humming a song to herself when she saw a light in the distance. The light was a transport plane that was returning to the Dover base.

On the mentioned transport plane were Mio, Minna, and Ursula. "Grumpiness is written all over your face, Major Sakamoto." Minna said.

"They called us all the way out here to tell us they're cutting our budget." Mio retorted. "Of course I look grumpy."

"They're feeling frustrated too," Minna replied. "Given that we're the only ones producing results in the war."

"The only thing they see is their own position." Mio shot back.

"That's just how the warmongers are." Minna explained. "Had the Neuroi never appeared, they might be warring with each other right now."

"It'd be like a world war, I bet." Mio said, before looking at Ursula. "Sorry, Ursula. I was hoping to show you around a town in Britannia since we're here, but…"

"No, I was just, uhh, thinking that the military has all kinds of people!" Ursula replied, before she heard something. "Umm, do you hear something?"

"Oh, that's Sanya's singing." Mio answered as Sanya flew next to the transport. "We must be near the base."

Sanya looked at the transport, and saw Ursula waving to her. Blushing slightly, she lowered her altitude and flew into the clouds.

"Is Sanya really shy?" The blond Karlsland Witch asked.

Minna nodded. "She may be shy, but she's a really nice girl. A good singer too, wouldn't you say?"

That was when Sanya stopped singing, getting the attention of the three Witches.

"What's wrong, Sanya?" Mio asked.

"Someone is watching us…" the Orussian Witch whispered.

"You need to report clearly and loudly." Mio said.

"I'm sorry. An unknown aircraft is approaching from the direction of Sirius." Sanya reported.

"Is it a Neuroi?" Minna asked.

"Yes, I'm almost certain of it." Sanya replied. "It's not moving at a normal aircraft's speed."

Mio lifted her eye-patch, exposing her Magic Eye to look for the Neuroi. "But I don't see anything…" She said after a few moments.

"It's in the clouds." Sanya answered. "It can't be detected with the naked eye."

"That would explain why." The Fuso Witch said.

"What are we supposed to do in this situation?" Ursula asked.

"I know it's vexing," Minna said "But there's nothing we can do without our Strikers." She then realized something. "You don't think they planned on that?"

"The Neuroi aren't capable of such complicated strategies." Mio replied.

"Target continues to approach at high speed." Sanya said, reminding them of the current situation. "Three minutes to contact."

"Sanya," Minna relayed "You'll need to buy us time until backup can arrive. Avoid engaging it to the best of your ability."

"Yes, ma'am." The night Witch answered, turning off the safety of the rocket launcher she was carrying. "Breaking away from target."

"Watch closely, Ursula." Mio said.

"Sanya knows where the Neuroi is?" Ursula asked.

"Yes." Mio confirmed "She can even see things that are beyond the horizon."

Ursula whistled, finding a new respect for Sanya.

"That's why we always leave her in charge of night patrol duty." Minna said

Sanya then flipped over, aiming her rocket launcher through the clouds and firing two rockets, both of them striking the Neuroi. "It's not attacking back?" Sanya asked in confusion, firing more rockets.

"Just as I thought." Minna said. "She's doing well against an enemy we can't see…"

"But I don't see a Neuroi at all…" Ursula commented as she saw Sanya continuously fire rockets at the Neuroi's position in the clouds.

"What Sanya says is definitely correct." Mio said.

* * *

Back at the base, all the Witches (except for the Storm Witches, who left for Africa three days ago, and Tri-Edge [since the only one she even remotely trusts is Mio]) were gathered in the living room, with Mio explaining what had happened.

"Then, does that mean no one saw the Neuroi but Sanya this time?" Trude asked.

"That's because it was hidden in the clouds and wouldn't come out." Mio explained.

"But she said it didn't fight back." Erica said "Does that ever happen? Are we sure it was really a Neuroi?" Erica asked.

"A shy Neuroi, perhaps?" Lynne asked.

"Maybe so." Ursula replied.

"Sanya, Ursula, Eila, you three are assigned to the full-time nighttime team." Mio ordered.

"Yes, ma'am!" the three Witches replied.

* * *

The next morning, all the Witches (Tri-Edge isn't a part of the Strike Witches, so she doesn't count) were in the dining room.

"Oh, blueberries! But why so many?" Perrine asked.

"My family sent them. Blueberries are good for your eyes, you know!" Lynne said, carrying a basket of blueberries.

"Down the hatch!" Erica said, digging into her bowl of blueberries.

"I _have_ heard that nighttime pilots in Britannia eat them often." Trude said.

Ursula had finished off her bowl of blueberries when Lucchini walked up to her. "Ursula! Shirley! Stick out your tongues!" Lucchini said, sticking out her tongue, which was purple from eating blueberries. Ursula and Shirley also stuck out their tongues, which were also purple. The three blinked, and then started laughing up a storm.

"Honestly! How trite can one get?!" Perrine asked.

"What about _you_?!" Eila asked, pulling back the Gallian Witch's lips to reveal her purple teeth.

Mio looked at Perrine, and walked off to get another bowl while saying, "All things in moderation."

Perrine was tearing up in pure embarrassment. "H-H-How could you do that, Eila?!" Perrine yelled.

"Hmmm?" Eila said, walking away grinning. "I didn't do anything."

'_Delicious.'_ Sanya thought, eating another spoonful of blueberries.

That was when one of the blueberry bowls disappeared in a flash of azure light, startling the others.

"What was that?!" Lucchini exclaimed.

Mio quickly figured it out and sighed. "She still doesn't trust us…"

This clued the others in real quick, as they knew that she was talking about Tri-Edge.

The rouge Witch had decided to stay at their base for the time being, but was always spending her time alone and away from the others; the only other person on the base that she'll even consider being around is Mio, and that's only because she was a good friend of her father (also because she needs her help to heal the mental damage of the Yoshika personality, but the others don't know that; not yet at least). This also caused them to remember the reason why Tri-Edge called them traitors.

It was an answer that none of them were expecting.

* * *

_Flashback Start_

_After Tri-Edge disappeared by transforming into a ball of azure fire and then teleporting, Mio remembered one last question that she had for the swords._

"_Empty Skies, can you tell us why Tri-Edge called us traitors?" Mio asked._

_The swords sighed. __**"I was wondering when you were going to ask that. The answer can be found in the flashbacks that I showed you."**__ At the confused looks of all the Witches present (including the Storm Witches), Empty Skies elaborated. __**"There was two constants that are important; the first is that the only ones who helped her were magic users, and the second constant was that the ones who wronged her couldn't use magic. Because her mind was distorted at the time, she started to see regular humans and magic users as two different species, with magic users being the superior of the two."**_

_Flashback End_

* * *

"All right," Mio said "Now that breakfast is over, go to sleep to prepare for night duty!"

"Huh?" Ursula asked. "But what about my research?"

"That can wait until after we deal with this Neuroi." Mio said with finality.

"Fine…" the blonde Karlsland Witch relented.

* * *

The three Witches were in Sanya's room, which was completely dark, save for the tiny amount of light that seeped in through the bottom of the door.

"I just woke up, too…" Ursula complained "Why did they have to make the room pitch black?"

"They want us to get used to the dark." Eila answered.

"Sorry they did this to your room, Sanya." Ursula apologized.

Sanya shook her head. "This is how I like my room." Sanya said.

"If you're bored, let's do tarot cards." Eila offered.

"Tarot cards?" Ursula asked.

"Fortunetelling." Eila answered. "I can predict the future using my magic. I can't see very far, though."

The blond researcher decided to go with it, and picked one of the tarot cards that Eila had laid out at random.

"Let me see…" Eila said, looking at the card before getting a smug face at which one it was; it was the Sun card. "Good for you! This means you're going to see the person you miss the most soon."

At first, Ursula got excited, but she got depressed a few seconds later, causing Eila to blink at the sudden change of mood. "But that's not possible…"

"How come?" the Suomus Witch was curious at how it wasn't possible.

"The two people I miss the most… my parents… are dead." The Karlsland Witch answered.

This caught Eila off-guard, and Sanya looked up in surprise.

"What happened?" Sanya suddenly asked. "How did you lose your parents?"

Ursula sighed, before telling them the same thing that she told Shirley.

"I see…" Eila murmured, before flopping down onto the bed. "I don't know what to tell you, then." She then quickly fell asleep, with Sanya following shortly after.

Before she fell asleep herself, though, Ursula noticed that a date on Sanya's calendar was marked, and her eyes widened in shock.

The date that was marked was August 18th. The exact same day that her and Erica's parents were killed.

The Karlsland researcher remained silent, choosing to sleep for now and think about it later.

As the three slept, a shadow glided in from under the door, and the form of Tri-Edge rose up from it. Looking at the three sleeping Witches with disinterest, her eyes caught a glimpse of the calendar, before stopping altogether. Her attention wasn't exactly the calendar, but rather the date that was marked.

August 18th. Not only was it her birthday (or rather, Yoshika's birthday), but it was also the day that her father was killed (when she turned 9), and the day that she found out about his death (when she turned 10).

Now having something to think about, she melted into the floor as a shadow and left the room, leaving the three Witches to sleep in peace.

* * *

_That evening…_

"It's sundown! Up and at 'em!" Lucchini called into the room.

"It seems kind of dark." Ursula said, sitting down next to Lynne in the dining room.

Lynne nodded. "They said it's training to get our eyes used to dark environments."

"What's this?" The researcher asked, looking at the liquid in the teacup in front of her.

"It's marigold herbal tea!" Perrine exclaimed "It's said that this can improve your eyesight, too!"

"Oh," Lynne said "But isn't that an old folk myth?"

"How rude! I'll have you know this was passed down from my grandmother's grandmother's grandmother!" Perrine yelled, growling like a dog (which is ironic, considering that she has cat features when using magic).

"S-Sorry…" Lynne apologized.

"Ursula! Lynne! Stick out your tongues!" Lucchini said, sticking her tongue out, which was normally colored. Lynne and Ursula did the same, revealing that their tongues were also normally colored. Lucchini's left eye was twitching in annoyance at not finding anything funny. "That's no fun!" she yelled.

"That joke bombed." Eila said, grinning to herself. Perrine scowled at her, but didn't say anything.

Sanya took a sip of the marigold herbal tea. _'Yuck…'_ She thought to herself.

* * *

Eila, Sanya and Ursula were out flying conducting nighttime flight training.

"So this is what it's like to fly at night…" Ursula trailed off, flying in formation with Sanya and Eila.

"This is our mission." Sanya said.

Ursula stared at the night Witch, puzzled by what she meant.

* * *

The next morning, all the Witches were in the dining room.

"What's this?" Perrine asked, looking into a teacup.

"Lamprey liver oil!" Ursula said "It's full of vitamins and good for your eyes!"

Erica sniffed it. "It smells kinda fishy."

"Well, it _is_ fish oil." Trude said "Flavor doesn't matter as long as it's nutritious." She then took a sip, before recoiling in disgust. "…I take back what I just said…" she admitted.

Perrine was laughing up a storm. "That's Hartmann for you!" the Gallian Witch taunted. "What a truly rustic choice!" Perrine continued laughing, unaware that she was also taunting Erica, whose left eye was twitching in annoyance as her hands unconsciously started to make a move to draw her two hidden pistols; no one messes with her or (more importantly) her sister and gets away with it.

"Actually, I'm the one who brought it." Mio said.

Perrine quickly shut up, hearing what Mio said. Turning around quickly, she grabbed the cup of fish oil while saying, "I-I love fish oil!" Grabbing the cup, Perrine quickly gulped down its contents, only for her eyes to widen at the horrible taste.

Ursula took a sip from her cup. "I don't see what the problem is. This is just as good as tea." She said.

"What is this?!" Lucchini asked in disgust.

"There's engine oil that tastes like this…" Shirley trailed off in thought.

Eila was spitting it out of her mouth, while Sanya just put her cup down with a disturbed look on her face.

"They used to force me to drink this when I first joined." Mio admitted, scratching the back of her head sheepishly "I was at a real loss."

"I can completely sympathize…" Perrine grumbled, trying to get the taste out of her mouth.

"Refill, please!" Minna requested with a smile. Erica was slowly backing away from Minna in disgust, but froze at what her sister did next.

Ursula snatched the carton of fish oil from Mio's hands, and proceeded to chug down the entire carton. All the Witches looked at her in disgust, except Minna, who pouted at the loss of such a good tasting beverage.

"Do you have any more?" Ursula asked in a sweet tone, giving back Mio the now empty carton.

Outside the dining hall, Tri-Edge had witnessed everything, and was faintly smirking in amusement as she walked off to a different part of the base; preferably an area that had no humans around.

_'Witches... can be interesting at times.'_ The rouge Witch thought to herself.

* * *

"Ugh…" Ursula groaned in pure boredom. "Where are you two from?" Ursula asked.

"I'm from Suomus." Eila answered.

"Orussia." Sanya answered.

"Oh, I know where those are." Ursula said, but then had a thought. "Hey, Sanya…" Ursula said.

"What is it?" Sanya asked.

"What happened to your family?" Ursula asked.

"They fled east when the Neuroi attacked my hometown." Sanya answered "They fled over the Ural Mountains and far past."

"That's a relief." Ursula said.

"How is that a relief?" Eila asked "Weren't you just listening?"

"At least her parents are still alive…" the researcher said lowly.

Eila winced at that, remembering what Ursula had told them about herself and Erica. "…Yeah, I guess you're right."

* * *

That night, Sanya, Eila, and Ursula were out flying again.

"Hey, what's wrong Ursula?" Eila asked, seeing that the researcher was depressed.

"Remember what I told you about mine and Erica's parents? Today's the day they were killed." She answered.

This caught Eila and Sanya off-guard, and the Orussian Witch looked down.

That caught Ursula's attention. "What's wrong, Sanya?"

Eila sighed. "Well, you see, today is also Sanya's…"

She was cut off when Sanya's Magic Antenna started flashing rapidly in different colors, causing her to gasp.

"What is it?" Eila asked.

The three Witches then heard something akin to the song Sanya usually sings.

"What is that?" Ursula asked.

"It's a song!" Eila answered worriedly.

"How…?" Sanya asked to herself.

* * *

At the base, the same song could also be heard. "Is this a Neuroi's voice?" Minna asked.

"Is it trying to mimic Sanya? Where is she?" Mio asked with concern in her voice.

"She should be conducting nighttime flight training with Ursula's group." Minna answered.

"Call them back at once!" Mio ordered.

"We can't! There's no telling where they are in these conditions!" Minna said, worried.

"I see," said Mio "So the enemy's after Sanya!"

* * *

Back with the three Witches, the three were getting worried.

"Is it the enemy, Sanya?" Eila asked.

"Is it a Neuroi? Where is it?" Ursula asked, getting her gun ready.

"Escape, you two!" Sanya suddenly ordered, who then flew straight up.

Suddenly, a red beam pierced through the clouds grazing Sanya's left Striker Unit, forcing her to eject it before it exploded seconds later.

"Sanya!" Eila shouted, flying after Sanya with Ursula following her.

Eila caught Sanya, and then yelled, "You idiot! What are you trying to do all by yourself?"

"I'm the enemy's target!" Sanya replied. "There's no question about it. Get away from me... If you stay with me, you'll..."

"Don't be stupid! What are you saying?" Eila stated.

"We can't do that!" Ursula yelled.

"But..." Sanya started, but was surprised when Eila grabbed her rocket launcher.

"What are you going to do?!" Ursula asked while carrying Sanya.

"Give me the enemy's location, Sanya." Eila said "It's all right. I can read the enemy's actions ahead of time, so they won't get me. That thing isn't you. _It_ may be alone, but _you've_ got us!"

Ursula gave the night Witch a reassuring grin, causing Sanya nodded.

"The Neuroi is heading straight this way, on the line connecting Vega and Altair. Approximate distance of 3,200." Sanya said, giving the location of the inbound Neuroi.

"Like this?" Eila asked, positioning the rocket launcher.

"It's speeding up. Aim closer." Sanya corrected. "There. Three more seconds."

"Now hit it!" Eila yelled, firing several rockets.

Another red beam was fired at the trio, who dodged it. The rockets all hit their mark as the Neuroi flew beneath them, retaining its cloud cover.

"I missed it?!" Eila asked.

"No, it's slowed down." Sanya said "It's sustained heavy damage. It's coming back!"

"Don't come back!" Eila yelled, firing more rockets at the Neuroi. To the trio's shock, the Neuroi dodged the rockets.

"It dodged!" Ursula warned.

"Dammit, show yourself!" Eila cursed, firing the last rocket in the launcher. This time, it was a direct hit, and the Neuroi revealed itself, although it was going too fast for the Witches to get a good look at it.

"There it is!" Eila and Ursula said at the same time. The Neuroi was fast approaching. Thinking quickly, Eila discarded the now empty rocket launcher in favor of her machine gun, firing away at the Neuroi.

"Eila, no! Run!" Sanya pleaded.

"There's no time for that now!" Eila replied.

Ursula threw up her shield, still carrying Sanya on her back.

"Good thinking!" Eila complimented.

"It's okay! I know we can win!" Ursula encouraged.

"This is what a team is all about!" Eila finished.

Sanya then grabbed Ursula's machine gun, firing at the Neuroi. Eventually, the continuous fire exposed and shattered the Core, destroying the Neuroi.

After several moments of silence, the three could still hear the sound of a song, only this time it sounded like it was being played on a piano.

"I still hear it…" Eila commented.

"But didn't we… wait a minute. This time it sounds like a piano." Ursula said.

Sanya smiled, recognizing the song. "This is my father's piano…" she said as she flew upwards using her remaining leg mount.

"Oh! It's the radio!" Ursula realized. "It's coming from somewhere else in this sky! Is this a miracle?"

"No, maybe not." Eila answered.

"Huh?" the researcher questioned.

"You see, today is actually Sanya's birthday." The Suomus Witch replied, causing Ursula's eyes to widen.

"Huh. Well how about that?" The Karlsland Witch said.

* * *

The next morning, Mio was talking with Minna in her office.

"This latest Neuroi was clearly obsessed with Sanya." Mio said. "It even copied her actions…"

"It seems certain that we'll need to revise our understanding of the Neuroi." Minna replied.

"How much of this do you think the higher-ups know about?" The Fusoan Witch asked.

"I don't know." Mina answered. "It's possible that they're aware of a lot more than we are."

"I guess we'll have to stay sharp, then." Mio replied.

That was when the two became aware of a photo that wasn't in the office previously; it showed Eila, Ursula, Perrine, Lucchini, Shirley, Lynne, Erica, and Trude all crowded around Sanya, who had a birthday cake in front of her. Written on the photo were the words "Sanya is 14!" But then, something in the photo caught Mio's and Minna's eyes; in the very back, away from the group of Witches was Tri-Edge, leaning on the far side of the door frame, her form shadowed as she looked on at the party.

But what caught Mio's attention was the look on her face; it was impassive, but there was also a small hint of longing as well.


	8. Chapter 8

**Driven by Revenge, Tri-Edge Rewrite Vol.1: Rebirth**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 8: The Panty-Thief Incident**

* * *

It's been two days since Sanya's birthday party, and the sun was just starting to rise. Sanya was returning from night patrol, the night Witch yawning tiredly as she approached the base.

Most of the Witches were fast asleep, but Mio was in the forest practicing her sword techniques when she heard the morning horn.

Sanya walked into Eila's room, mistaking it as her own due to how sleepy she was. Flopping down onto the bed, she was fast asleep as soon as she hit the mattress. This, however, woke Eila up with a start.

"Huh?! Wha?!" Eila then looked at the figure next to her. "Sanya? Sheesh. You got the wrong room, you know." Looking at the sleeping night Witch, she sighed. "Fine, but only for today."

Meanwhile, Trude walked into Erica's room to wake her up. "Time to get up! Wake up, Hartmann!"

Erica, who was lying on the floor, groaned. "Just a little more… 70 more minutes…" she said tiredly.

"That's not "a little more"!" Trude yelled.

"40 more minutes…" Was the tired Hartmann's response.

"Get up already!" the brunette Karlsland Witch yelled again, yanking the small sheet off of Erica's face, causing her to tiredly open her eyes and look up. "For Karlsland soldiers, discipline comes first! And second! And third, and fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth!"

Erica was silent for a few moments. "What about tenth?"

Trude was getting angry at this point, but calmed down. "What day is it, Hartmann?"

"A day off?" Erica asked hopefully.

"No! You have an award ceremony this afternoon! To commemorate the 250th Neuroi you recently shot down, our home country has sent a Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. Commander Minna told you about it last night!"

Erica yawned. "Then let me sleep until noon…"

Trude's anger was starting to boil. "Get up!" she yelled, removing the rest of the sheets, only to blush at the sight of Erica not wearing any panties. "Put some clothes on! Put some panties on!"

Erica just yawned again.

"It's time for breakfast! Get yourself ready and come to the dining hall!" With that, Trude left the room, slamming the door shut on her way out.

The door slamming is what caused Erica to fully wake up. Looking around, she couldn't find her panties. "They're gone…"

* * *

Outside, Mio was training Ursula on how to use a sword by practicing with a bokken.

"Put your back into it!" Mio instructed.

"Yes, ma'am!" Ursula answered.

"Sword and mind as one! This sword is not meant to defeat the enemy! Understand, Hartmann?!"

"No, ma'am!"

"All right! 100 more swings, then!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Nearby, Perrine was watching (more like stalking) Mio train Ursula in the way of the sword while hiding behind a tree. _'That's too close, Major. That's no good… Why am I not the one over there?! Why does she train with that puny raccoon dog every single morning?!'_

At that moment, Lucchini dropped down from the tree that Perrine was hiding behind. "Yo! Whatcha lookin' at, Perrine?"

Lucchini's outburst caught the attention of Mio and Ursula. "Perrine and Lucchini! What's going on?" The Karlsland Witch asked.

"This is where I slept today!" answered the hyperactive Romagnan Witch.

"Hartmann. You aren't swinging." Mio said.

"Oh, right!" Ursula immediately went back to training.

Perrine quickly joined in, and Lucchini was force to participate.

* * *

"She's training this morning, too." Lynne said as she rode in a jeep with Minna. "Major Sakamoto sure is dedicated!"

"I just hope she isn't being hasty…" Minna said.

"Huh?" Lynne asked.

"Oh, nothing." Minna replied. "It's a great thing you're here. I wanted to pick up some important deliveries, but no one else was familiar with this area."

"I'm happy to be of use!" Lynne exclaimed.

* * *

Back at the base, several Witches were eating breakfast in the dining hall.

"No one's waking up." Shirley said.

"Everyone's gone soft!" Trude complained.

"Well, there shouldn't be any Neuroi for a while, so I don't see any problem with it." Shirley said.

"You're too optimistic, Liberion. You must always be ready!" the strict Karlsland Witch scolded.

"This is why Karlslanders have a reputation for being stiffs." Shirley teased, before gasping. "That big one was mine!" the Liberion yelled.

"Blitzkrieg tactics!" Trude said.

* * *

Back in Erica's room, Erica was having a difficult time trying to find her pants.

"My pants… are gone…" the blonde mumbled "Oh, well." She said before walking out her room.

* * *

In the bath house, Lucchini and Ursula jumped into the warm water.

Meanwhile, Erica walked into the bath house's changing room, before swiping Lucchini's pants and putting them on, before walking out.

Moments later, Lucchini walked out of the bath, drying herself off when she noticed that her pants were gone. "My pants… Let me think…" Lucchini said, before looking to her right and getting a gleam in her eyes upon sighting Perrine's pants. Putting them on, the Romagnan walked out of the changing room just as Perrine walked out of the bath. The Gallian Witch quickly noticed that her pants were gone.

"My pants! They're-?!" Perrine freaked, before calming down. "N-No, it's nothing!" Perrine said, pulling on her stockings. _'Calm down, Perrine Clostermann! An upper-class lady of Gallia mustn't lose control over something like this!'_ She thought while getting dressed.

* * *

Later, several Witches were chasing Lucchini around the base, trying to get Perrine's pants back.

Lucchini, who currently hiding in the woods, was still trying to figure out who stole her pants, which forced her to steal Perrine's pants in the first place. Then she spotted something that was too good for her to resist.

A swimsuit laying on the rocks right next to a river. But what got her attention was that it was the exact same type of swimsuit that Mio always wears. Thinking that she could embarrass the Major, Lucchini snatched the swimsuit and ran off.

Several minutes later, a figure emerged from the river, having finished bathing. She made a move to put on her clothes, only to find her swimsuit missing.

Her left eye started twitching in annoyance.

* * *

Two hours later, several of the Witches finally managed to corner Lucchini in the courtyard.

"Give me back my pants!" Perrine yelled.

"I'll give you these instead!" Lucchini yelled back, holding out the swimsuit that she stole earlier.

The Witches who cornered her were surprised; the swimsuit she was holding out looked exactly like the one that the Major always wore.

Perrine was blushing madly. "H-H-H-How dare you take the Major's…"

"Take my what?" Mio's voice asked, as she walked onto the scene. Looking at Lucchini, especially at what she was holding, Mio's face became stark white.

"That's right, Sakamoto! These are-" Lucchini started, thinking that she was finally getting payback for being forced to train earlier, but was cut off.

"Not mine…" Mio said shakily.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Ursula asked.

"Those aren't mine…" the Fusoan Major said, while starting to shake in fear.

"Hold on." Shirley said. "If they're not yours, then whose are they?"

"**Mine."** Said a cold, emotionless voice, a voice that caused everyone to freeze in pure fear.

Lucchini hesitantly looked behind her, only to see Tri-Edge, who was covered from shoulder to toe with armor made out of earth (it was being held together by her magic), looking at her with raw fury as she cracked her knuckles (the armor functions as makeshift clothing).

Before Lucchini could react, she was engulfed in a sphere of dirt that was three meters in diameter as Tri-Edge slowly walked towards her. Reaching inside the sphere, the rouge Witch pulled out her swimsuit and, using a large amount of magic (for a normal Witch anyway; Tri-Edge isn't even making a dent on her reserves, even though she's using spells that require a lot of magic), pulled out her swimsuit from the sphere of dirt. Afterwards, she grabbed the sphere, and with inhumane strength, _threw_ it straight up to a height of 500 meters, after which it came crashing down, shattering on impact.

In the resulting crater laid Lucchini, covered in bruises and moaning in pain. Tri-Edge, seeing that the Romagnan Witch was properly punished, sank into the ground without so much as disturbing it. This, in turn, caused all that were watching to look at where she once was slack jawed.

* * *

Later, at the awards ceremony, Erica just got her award when a breeze swept through, revealing that she was wearing Lucchini's pants.

Lucchini fumed, "_She's_ the one who stole my pants!"

Ursula face palmed; leave it to her sister (or rather, her cheerful and lazy act that she almost always uses nowadays) to make a mess out of things and cause incidents like this.

* * *

**A/N: Episode 7 of Season 1 always gives me trouble whenever I try to write it, so this was the best I could come up with. Since college classes start next Monday, I don't know when I'll be able to post another chapter. That's also why I kind of rushed this one; if I had more time, I would have made it at a higher quality, but that won't likely happen. I had a hard enough time trying to give Tri-Edge/Yoshika some screen time in this chapter to begin with.**

**The next chapter, "I Won't Forget You; Beginning to Heal", won't be out until the unprecedented future when I manage to find the time to actually write it.**


End file.
